


A heart's journeys

by Iamsuperconfused



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cat Grant Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Slow Burn, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2019-11-23 20:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18156596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamsuperconfused/pseuds/Iamsuperconfused
Summary: A story that start in between season 1 and season 2 and will progress through my own imagined version of the 2nd season of the show and beyond. No crashing pod.The story will also explore a different way for Alex to stumble out of the closet and into Lena's arms.What can I say, I like my rare-pairs.





	1. This sounds like you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

Kara Danvers loves the many parts of her life: Being a sister to Alex, Superfriend with Winn and maybe something more to James.  She’s Supergirl to the world and Kara Zor-El to too few people. Only one small part of her life is starting to bring her down: Being Cat Grant’s assistant. The latest errand feels petty and meaningless, something that could've been accomplished much easier by other means.  

As she exits the bookstore where she had to retrieve a hardcover book for Cat, as if on cue, her cell phone vibrate with a new notification.

“While you’re in the area, can you get me a latte from Joy’s shop.” a link is helpfully provided in the body of the message.

Kara roll her eyes, quickly typing the response “Yes, Miss Grant.” The blonde trace back a few steps to take the proper direction.

“She sent me on this errand specifically for her fav latte. :| ” She sends the text to James, sighing heavily as if exhaling her frustration.

“♥ Need me to distract her?”

A smile, small and soft sweetens her soured mood. “No, thanks for offering. U want anything from the shop?”

A notification at the top of the screen indicates she’d received a payment in her bank account from James. A familiar sight from their Game nights arrangement. “Yeah, I want you to get yourself a box of donuts & share one with me.”

A gentle warmth reach her cheeks and tints them a rosy color, a single emoji get sent in the reply. “♥”  

 

* * *

 

 

The shop is warm and full, but the staff work like a well-oiled machine and the orders are processed rapidly.  People chat amongst themselves, creating a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere to the establishment. The smell of coffee and pastry mix to make the experience just that little bit more enjoyable.

The woman preceding her in the line is a cop, she’s wearing an oversized NCPD Jacket, her hair is tied into a messy ponytail and her badge is hung at her belt. Kara peeks over her shoulder and notices she’s holding a pen in her mouth, her phone in one hand and an open file in the other. Kara doesn’t mean to read it, but her eyes catch a name she’s familiar with: the victim of a kidnapping she briefly saw at a DEO meeting. As the line moves, the woman tucks the file under her arm to start fishing for her wallet, she struggles to get a good grasp on the object.

“Need an extra pair of hands?” Kara swears she see the woman blush at the simple offer.

The cop smiles through the pen in her mouth and nods. She gives Kara her phone, uses her free hand to put the pen in her jacket pocket, before  finally pulling her wallet out of her jeans. She reclaims her cellphone, holding it and her wallet together... “Thanks, I got carried away multi-tasking.”

“Happy to help...” Kara’s eyes dip to the badge quickly, using her superior vision to see the actual title on it. “...Detective”

“Can I get you anything?” she tilts her head towards the menu. “I’m just here because I lost a bet to a colleague and owe them donuts. Might as well make the most of it.”

“And I’m just here because my boss wants me to get her a latte, so I can’t stay long, she likes to have it piping hot.” Kara gives an apologetic smile as she refuses the kind offer with a shake of her head. “I’m also getting donuts though, for myself.”

Kara misses the mischievous light in the dark eyes of  the detective. She watches as she places her order for a significant number of donuts, pays at the register and then waits at the end of the bench for her order to be finished.

Then it’s Kara’s turn and when she gets to the register to pay, the cashier refuses to take her card. “It’s okay, the lady over there already paid for your order.” the aging woman waves her hand casually towards the familiar woman

Kara makes her way to the bench, sitting next to her. “You really didn’t have to do that.”

“No, but you helped me and you actually noticed what my rank is. So I wanted to show my appreciation.” She offers a handshake. “I’m Maggie by the way.”

Kara take the offered hand, squeezing maybe just a touch too enthusiastically. “And I’m Kara.” She doesn’t miss the little wiggle of Maggie’s finger once the simple pressure is off. “Speak of which, I noticed what was in your file, I... I think I could help you.  My sister’s a federal agent, I know she had information on that woman, I’m sure.”

The detective blinks and seems slightly flustered. “Th--that’d be really great, if you can get her to play nice with the local police.” she chuckles “Or maybe get some media attention on the case, so some people can come forward with information they might have.”

“I think I could do both, I work for CatCo.”

“Are you a reporter?”

“No” Kara fidgets with her glasses, a few second of silence follows before she finally speaks the words at the tip of her tongue. “Not yet.”

“Well, with a cop and a fed as contact, maybe you could persuade someone to let you try.” Maggie pats Kara on the shoulder and pulls her phone back out.

After exchanging numbers with the dark haired woman,  Kara set the phone back into her pocket. “Thanks again for the donuts, but I really should be going now.” she returns the pat on the shoulder and leaves the shop.  

Maggie exits the shop right behind Kara and goes to her patrol car, she sits in the passenger seat with the donut box on her lap. The engine starts, but the car remain stationary for a moment.

Kara taps at her phone screen, alerting James that she’s on her way back, she’s about to do the same with Cat when her enhanced hearing picks up the detective’s voice, beneath the grumbling of the police cruiser.

_“Sorry this took so long, had to be nice to a lady.”_

_“Geez Sawyer, don’t you have a girlfriend already?”_

Kara’s heartbeat speeds up, her breath catch in her chest.

_“No, I’ve been single for a month.”_

_“Then what was the date last friday?”_

_“Not super successful? She’s in real estate and spoke about market trends for an hour.”_

All plans to fly back to CatCo given up, her head is spinning and there’s just too much danger when that happens. She catches her reflection in the window of Joy’s donut shop, there is an inexplicable smile splitting her face.

_“And this one?”_

_“Well, she dresses the part, she’s cute, got a nice butt and she’s very observant. I got her number and can get me information for the kidnapping case.”_

Kara’s face is redder than it’s been in a while, she shakes off the momentary freeze and resumes her hurried trot toward CatCo, but not before catching further bits of the conversation between Maggie and the other cop.

_“Nice, but what’s that about dressing the part?”_

_“Well, if I google ‘soft butch’ her outfit is like, the third image on google.”_

The car gets more distant, Kara gets flustered further and she simply hurries away, hoping to block out the rest of the conversation.

  


* * *

 

 

The latte and the book are delivered to Cat Grant’s office and Kara is sent back to her desk without further assignment. She pushes into James’s office however, skipping getting to her desk right away.

“Hey” He takes the donut box from her hand and sets it on the desk, upon feeling the weight of the box in his hand, a curious frown adorns his usually warm and soft features. “I assumed you’d eat the whole box and watch me eat it.”

“That does sound like me.” Kara laughs and she sits in the chair, her heart hasn’t slowed even one bit since she left Joy’s Shop. “I’m going to be honest, I feel really, really weird.”

“Something happen?”

“Yeah, I think I had an epiphany.”

“At the donut shop?”

“Yeah.”

James smiles warmly. “That sounds like you alright, What’s the epiphany?”

The answer catches in her throat, there’s no word she knows, no concept she has for _this_ and the idea is trapped. After a moment of hesitation, she manages to give the only acceptable answer she knows. “I want to be a reporter.”

James’ smile grows even brighter, after he grabs himself a donut, he starts picking it apart with his finger and eats it. “You have a lot of people around you who can help with that. What happened, come on spill.”

“I saw this detective looking over a file while waiting in line. I recognized the kidnapping victim from something Alex looked over recently.” She smiles a little too wide at the memory. “So, I offered to help with what I knew, she ended up asking me if I was a reporter and I don’t know why, I said: ‘not yet’.”  

“You have federal contacts, you come with a pretty impressive exclusivity too, you could probably get what you want from it if you sell it right.” he keeps eating the food.

“Exclusivity?”

“Well, I don’t think CatCo would be getting a lot of Supergirl coverage if they ever fired you.” He whispers.

Kara’s eye widen, the realization brings a smile. “Yeah and I did get the detective’s number too.”

James chuckles “Oh, should I be worried?” it’s a sincere joke as he takes more of his own donut.

Kara’s heart skip a beat, her stomach ties in knots right there. She puts on a smile, it’s easier than she thought. She leans over the desk to whap James on the shoulder, as if it answered his question. “Thanks for the donuts.”

“Are we still on for tomorrow?” The question tightens the knot in her stomach, and she hugs him on the way out.

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

 

The desert base is bustling with activity, agents are working around the various rooms and areas, plugging and unplugging several different machines and computers. J’onn is coordinating with a few of them, giving them recommendations and orders about a new location.  Stacks of crates and suitcases are stored in the main hallways, making navigating the base a little slower than usual.

The Martian turns around just in time to greet her with a warm smile

“Is the Hologram room still active?”

“Yes, It’s in the same old room. We haven’t moved it yet.” He follows Kara through an emptier section of the underground complex.

“It’s okay.” Kara takes a deep breath, once they’re away from the rest of the agents. “Before I get in there, there’s something I want to ask you.”

The tremors in her voice don’t go unnoticed, he pulls her aside, into one of the interrogation rooms. One that doesn’t give her nightmares. “Of course, ask away.”

“I’m going to take a step forward and try to become a reporter. I know this is going to make people nervous.” she motions vaguely at their surroundings. “But with what I’ve learned of my people over the past year, I know I have to.”

J’onn smiles at her. “I’m proud of you.” he closes the door behind them. “I’m sure there’s going to be a few nervous people, but I think it’ll be worth it.”

“Think you could get me a clearance for some information? Like, press conference stuff. Not like, DEO stuff.” She clear her throat. “I have a few specific items of interest in mind.”

“This sounds like a pretty reasonable request. I’ll get back to you on that tomorrow.” She can feel his eyes focusing on hers. “Is there something else I can do for you?”

“Oh, no, I won’t bother you much longer. Thanks!” She smiles and dismisses him with just a wave of her hand. “You can go back to work!”

“I’m not asking because you’re bothering me, I’m asking because I can tell there’s something bothering you.” He steps closer to the door and smiles her way.

Kara takes a deep breath. “There is. It’s why I want to talk to Alura and maybe make a visit to the fortress. It’s not a security matter, but personal.”

“I’m here if you need me.”

They exchange a hug, silence between them before parting ways.


	2. Panic in full technicolor rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After encountering some technical difficulties with the Alura hologram in the D.E.O. Desert HQ Supergirl finds herself searching for answers at the fortress of solitude. A conversation with her sister looms inevitably over the horizon once the answers are found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.
> 
> CW: Societal Homophobia.

Supergirl comes inside of the room, she closes the door behind her and locks it so that only Alex or J’onn can intrude. The machine that contains the holographic memories of her mother lights up at her approach. She activates it with the push of a button and the ghostly manifestation of her mother emits a soft blue light, coloring the entire room with her ghastly presence.

“Hello, Kara.” The artificial voice, a sharp contrast to the warmth of their last hug, a ghost sensation of enveloping warmth across her upper body, but only for the briefest of moment.

“I got a question about Kryptonian culture, is there anything in your data that could help me understand some emotional issues.”

The synthesized voice responds “Information is available, but it is limited by data storage modality. Do you have a specific inquiry Kara?”

She only nods, the words won’t form, she doesn’t know the term in Kryptonese. Her lips part as if she is trying to speak, only short sounds, shards of words and concepts she doesn’t understand.

“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.”

Her eyes drop from the hologram. There is not a single memory she can conjure, not a single interaction she recalls from her days on the now-dead planet that makes the words possible to find. More sounds escape past her lips, shapeless, louder and meaningless.

“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.”

For a moment, it’s like she’s back in that terrible first English class, the teacher asking the same question to her. Each time she couldn’t answer, the question would come back angrier. “Miss Danvers, what is a prepositional phrase?”

She imagines her current facial expression is not much different from back then. She can still hear the sighs given off by her old classmates after each question, with each failure to recall such a simple concept.

“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.” At least the hologram isn’t getting impatient with her.

The memories of her English class seems to help her find the words this time. “Were there any known same-gender couples on Krypton?”

“I do not have information on that topic, I’m sorry Kara. More data may be available at this location.” Familiar coordinates appear in place of her mother’s ghost. The Fortress of Solitude.

“Thank you. I’ll go there soon.” The hologram fades and turns off as she walks back out of the room, it’s a slow walk through the halls of the desert base. It feels like the walk back and forth between the principal’s office and the English class they had sent her out of.

“Did your mother have your answers?” J’onn asks as Supergirl meanders into the main hall, heading for the exit.

She shakes her head. “I’m going to the fortress, maybe I’ll have more luck there.” a slump in her shoulders betrays her true expectations.

The martian walks with her to the exit tunnel. “Do you want me to accompany you?”

“Thank you for the offer. I …don’t want to share anything about it right now.” Kara wraps her arms around his human form and holds him. Long enough to replace the ghostly sensation hovering over her with his warmth and presence. She hopes he doesn’t see her tears as she flies away.

 

* * *

 

Kara lands at the fortress, making her way inside of the carved ice hallways. Her fingers trace along the jagged shapes, a welcome distraction.  She imagines this is what it feels like for people of earth to visit a mausoleum or a funeral home.

She enters the main chamber, with the larger than life statues that hold up various screens and machinery. Kelex is nowhere to be seen, but she can hear the hovering robot making its way toward her from deeper inside the Fortress. She reaches for the main console and brings up a screen with the various entries to the database. After a quick cursory glance to the number of avenues, she turns to a different console.

“Kelex is there a vocal command system for this computer?”

The familiar robot flies to her side and he connects to the console. “There is, Kara Zor-El, I can activate the program for you.”

“Please, Kelex.”

After a small beeping noise comes from him, The robot delivers what seems to be a pre-programmed message. “Warning, the holographic representation was turned off by Kal-El. The image is a representation of Zor-El, your father.”

Kara tries to conjure an image of her father, it takes a few minutes longer than what it should. . Slowly it comes back; the color of his eyes, the gray tones that are a sharp contrast to the jet black hair, and finally the sound of his voice. “Thank you for the warning, Kelex, please activate it.”

Another ghost manifest before her, the same cold blue light shining on her face. “Greetings, my daughter. What inquiry may I fulfill for you?”

“I will not bother asking for a hug this time.” It’s a response laced with tears and laughter, but it all quiets down when the cold, metallic arm of Kelex clinches around her in an awkward hug.

“It is, unfortunately, the best I can do. Is there another inquiry I can fulfill?”

Kara nods, she steps closer to the console as the robot releases her, leaving her side. “Yes, I wanted information on Kryptonian culture. Were there any known same-gender couples?”

An unexpected silence comes in response. The hologram freezes, while the programs searches through the database his translucent eyes fixate on her. Memories of Jeremiah’s furious eyes after the flying incident are brought back as she stands waiting. The two moments superpose one another as the silence grows uncomfortable.

“No results found. It appears we did not have time to archive works of fiction in our haste. My apologies Kara.”

Kara works over the console’s command and the hologram disappears, without a look back as she departs from the room. “You’re a work of fiction.”

She flies off of the Fortress.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun is long lost beneath the horizon when the girl of steel returns to National City, she flies past her sister’s apartment. No lights, no sounds, no one. Her super-hearing catches the familiar voice when she gets closer to her own place, a string of choice curses about the current selection of drinks in her apartment.

She lands through the window into her living room and finds her sister mixing herself a drink. “You know you could just bring your own drinks if you don’t like what I have?”

“Just like you bring your own food when you drop over without warning?” Her sister leaves the drink preparation and immediately goes over to give her a hug.

“Yeah exactly like that.” Her cape wraps partially around Alex as she returns the hug.

“J’onn told me you might need company.”

“I flew past your place on the way here.” She feels Alex pulling back from her arms, it’s a struggle to let her go. Kara super-speeds into her bedroom right after, coming back out with a set of gray sweats on, loose and warm.  She’s running her finger over her shoulders, over her chest, trying to brush the lingering warmth away.

Her sister stands still, at the exact spot where she left her after the hug, her arms still half open. “Are we good?” Alex takes a step toward her, slow and cautious.

Not for the first time today, she finds herself without words, Kara makes a heart shape with her hands instead.

“Okay.” Alex exhales, her shoulders loosen and her arms drop to her side. “Want me to order pizza? We can talk over it when it gets here?”

The silence remains, her skin flushed red and warmer to the touch than it should be. A memory from not so long ago slips in: Alex crying at the harsh, cruel words she couldn’t hold back.

“Should I mix you a drink too?” When Kara nods again, Alex puts her hand to her forehead as if to check her temperature, then resumes her work, with one more drink this time.

Kara sits on the couch, grabs a cushion and hugs it against her heart, with her eyes shut.

After her sister places the order for pizza, she joins her on the couch, leaving Kara’s drink on the table. Her own drink is already half empty. “I can see the threads straining, give the cushion a break.”

She drops the cushion on the floor and her drink is downed in one go. “I wish I could get drunk.”

Alex puts her unfinished drink on the table, eyes wide at her sister. “Please tell me what’s going on? Because I’m one weird comment away from assuming someone made another Bizarro.”

“I don’t know what to say! I tried to ask the holograms about it and they had nothing on it because it wasn’t important enough to save and now I’ll never have answers.”

Alex takes a moment to scoot a little closer to her sister, taking one arm between her hands, trying to ground her sister back into reality. “What did you ask?”

“If there were any gay couples on Krypton.” She focuses her attention to the warm touch on her arm and yet, she can’t help but hear the sudden increase in her sister’s heartbeat.

“Wh-why did you ask that?”

“I spoke to a girl at a donut shop and…, she paid for my donuts because I helped her hold stuff so she could get her wallet.” she scratches the back of her head with her free hand. “She’s a detective with the NCPD. I accidentally eavesdropped on her talking about me with her partner, said something about me being a soft butch and having a cute butt. I was smiling like an idiot the whole time.”

Alex’s laugh makes all the difference in the world, it’s the sweet, caring warmth she needs now. “I understand there are a lot more things to unpack here, but you getting a crush on someone over donuts is very…you.”

She laughs a little, unconvincingly. “Yeah.” Kara leans into her sister’s side. “Hey, why are you crying.”

“Just emotional, I wasn’t expecting this when I came over.” Alex rests her head on Kara’s. “Are... are you gay? Or something else?”

“I… don’t know, The hologram at the fortress told me same-gender couples were works of fiction.” a shrug of her shoulders. “I guess I’m just a fable.”

“You feel pretty real to me.”

Silence settles between the sisters, their minds sinking deep into a turmoil of thoughts and forgotten memories. Some of which they share, like that time Kara said she’d date Lucy. Others more personal, like the sleepless sleepovers at Vicky’s for Alex.  The silence shatters when Kara’s phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Danvers. Sorry to call you so soon, but there’s been a development with the kidnappings.”

She sits up from the cuddling position with her sister. “Oh, what kind?”

“Two people went missing today and I’m stuck here reviewing the files, if you could get me the fed help sooner rather than later, it might save people.”

“I’m with my sister right now, putting you on speaker.”

“I promise I’ll behave.”  Maggie jokes across the speaker.

“You better.” Alex threatens, dabbing her face with a tissue.

“Maggie, this is my sister and Alex this is Maggie.” she swats her shoulder, which results in a cushion being smacked in her face.

“Yeah, I can hear the sisterhood from here, happy to meet your voice.”

Alex is already texting with someone, it looks hurried and frantic. “One minute, just checking something with the boss.”

“Well, I spoke with him earlier, he seemed amenable. It’s about the Joan Prestwich case in particular.”

“Yeah, but I think the case connects to at least five more. I can’t find anything besides a general sense of the pattern.” The disembodied voice in the middle of her living room fills her with more warmth than the ghosts from earlier. She listens, with a fond smile, as the two women exchange words over her phone

“Do you have an official E-Mail? Miss Sawyer?”

“I do and if we’re going to full polite way, Agent Danvers, it’s Detective.”

“Of course, Miss Detective.”

“Hey, Danvers, your sister’s a little shit.”

Kara laughs “She can be, I know, I should’ve warned you.” She pokes her tongue out and gets a middle finger in return.

The phone vibrates, after a short quiet moment. “I sent you a text with my email, you can share it with your sister. Just don’t sign me up for anything with it.”

The agent snorts. “All right, I got the okay from Henshaw, the Prestwich case should be on its way in about ten minutes.”

“Are you still at work !?” Kara asks once she catches what time it is.

“Yep, I’m over-timing in this bitch. Especially with the fresh cases, I might need to take a coffee break soon though.” the detective clears her throat. “Anyway, I’ll let you two have fun, thanks for the hand. Let me know if I can return the favor.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll make sure Kara doesn’t forget it.” another whack with a cushion, this time from Kara to Alex.

“Have a good evening, Maggie.” The phone call ends.

“Huh.” Alex set the cushion back on the floor, resuming their comfortable positions. “Who’re you calling?”

“Jeremy from Noonan, he owes me a favor.”

“Wow, my little sister is smooth.” Alex teases.

 

 

 

> _Maggie [19:23] MSawyer_Det@NCPD.org_
> 
> _Maggie [19:55] Ok. that was really nice. Thank u for the snack._
> 
> _You [20:01] :) Np_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid confusion: Maggie refers to Kara as 'Danvers' at the moment, as she's the first sister she encounters. However the nickname will change in-story eventually. 
> 
> Next chapter: Enter Lena Luthor


	3. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they go through the beats and events of the first Episode of the 2nd season, Kara go through some growing pains alongside with James and Alex has her own sudden realization about women. Lena Luthor make her entry in the story and leave the Danvers sisters questioning themselves in many ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor Maggie appearance toward the end of the chapter. This is probably going to be the only chapter who follows an episode this closely because 1) Things are different enough now that it'd make the event of other episode almost unrecognizable and 2) Because following an episode this close to the beat is really rough to write for me & I often struggle to like the results.
> 
> Thanks for [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

There is a knock on the door and she can already hear the little tune he’s humming, she smiles in spite of herself. She opens the door and his face is hidden behind a bouquet of white flowers.. “Awww.” She takes the flowers and smells them. “Thank you, they smell amazing.”

James steps inside, locking the door behind him as they kiss each other on the cheek.

“Are you okay?” He pulls her into his arms, giving her a gentle hug. “I thought we were going out tonight?”

She looks down at the grey sweats she’s wearing and closes her eyes. “I’d rather we stay in and talk. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” He presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

A minute later, they’re both on the couch. Kara holds on to the same cushion she nearly tore apart the previous evening.

“Are you okay? There’s something bothering you.” James asks with obvious concern lacing the tone of his voice.

“I’d really appreciate if you would keep what I’m going to tell you a secret.” Kara takes a deep breath, bracing herself.“From everyone.”

“I’ll keep the secret, you don’t have to worry about that.” He says moving closer to her.

“I’ve had a really, really bad couple of days.” She closes her eyes and the cushion’s threads start to unravel. “I’ve realized...” She drops the cushion to the floor. “That I love you, but that I’m not in love with you. I… I think you know what I mean.”

“I do.”  His shoulder slump, his voice heavy, sinking below a whisper

“I’ve realized that I never felt attracted to someone. Romantically. Before, because I didn’t know how it was supposed to feel for me.”

“For you? Because you’re Kryptonian?” He leans forward, hands joined over his knee.

“Yeah” She takes a deep breath. “But yesterday, I definitely felt attracted to someone and I panicked.”

“Was it the detective you mentioned?”  He ask in a whisper, slinking back from her, afraid of the answer almost.

“It was.” Kara’s expression shifts into a frown as she has to make a physical effort to say it. “I only know that I’m attracted to her.” Her eyes close, her head lowers.Weighed down by an invisible force. “Because I had a sharp and immediate comparison…” She tries to speak further, but words are too hard to form in the moment.

“She offered to buy you donuts too?” He provides her with a sober smile. He watches as Kara tries to stifle a giggle, failing to do so and it sets him off. Her laugh has always been contagious to him.

The laughter dies down eventually, their faces heated and their eyes hidden behind a thin veil of tears. “I heard her talk with her co-worker, after.” She hides her face behind her hands.

“I see.” He stands up and picks up the cushion from the floor and sets it back down on top of Kara’s lap. “I understand that you want to share this with some--” Kara’s exclamation interrupts him.

“NO!” she shake her head. “No, I don’t want to share it, but I can’t just end what we have and give you no reason! You deserve better!”

“Then don’t share it, Kara.” At first the word seem confrontational in nature, but when she stares his way, his expression is soft and melancholic. “I can fill in the blanks with what you already gave me” He looks out the window for a quick moment. “We can be friends, we can be like we were before. I’ll just need a bit of time to process all of this.”

_“We’re interrupting our normal programming to report a possible explosion aboard the Venture.”_ The TV interrupts the moment between them like a cold shock. Both of them laugh. _“As far as we know at this time, there are over 200 people on this craft, there are no further details but stay tuned we’ll continue to bring you the details of this event...”_ The voice drones on as Kara dives into her bedroom to change into the Super-suit and comes back to the words _“...I pray she’s watching this.”_

“She is.” He pats her on the back, they exchange a smile, a faint laugh rushes past their lips as they realize this date was doomed as much as their first kiss was by Myriad.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s an ominous pressure looming over her shoulders, it’s hard to tell what it is between the events of the last two days and growing apprehension of meeting her family’s nemesis. A single glance over to Clark has her seeing the questioning look written all over his face.

“I know you heard what I said to James, when Cat was giving you the tour.”

“I also heard what you told Cat whilst I was catching up with James.” He wraps one of his arms around her shoulder and pulls her in for a side hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” She looks over the various busy people in the lobby. “I had an epiphany a few days ago, Clark. I’m still confused about a lot of it, but that’s part of what came out of it.”

“You really don’t have to justify yourself to me, Kara. I’m just curious as to what the epiphany was.” He kisses the side of her head and pats her back.

She forces a smile to him and she takes a step backwards, her mind superposing the memories of Zor-El’s hologram with Clark’s presence. “I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“Oh, that big huh?” He smiles “I’m here to listen whenever you want to talk.” He points towards a woman coming their way. “There she is.”

Kara turns around, her eyes widen at the sight of the raven-haired woman. Her green eyes seize them both up.

Oh! Oh _no_!

It seems her attraction to the detective wasn’t just a random occurrence. As it turns out Lex Luthor’s younger sister is a beautiful woman with such a magnetic presence! Kara’s inner monologue begins to spiral _Gosh she has beautiful eyes, and oh her hair! It looks so soft! Oh Rao! Is this going to be a thing now?_

They join the woman in her office. Clarke immediately begins asking her insistently about the Venture explosion and her absence from the aircraft. She loses a bit of the conversation between her cousin and Lena, but manages to keep up with them.

She finally snaps out of her strange daze when Lena addresses her. “And who are you exactly?” The C.E.O. asks with an amused, teasing voice, one that makes the laughing gaze of Maggie come back to Kara’s mind.

“I’m Kara Danvers, with CatCo magazine.”

“A publication not known for it’s hard-hitting journalism, more like High-waisted jeans. Yes or no?”

There’s a fierce smile on Kara’s face now. “Well, maybe I can change that, Miss Luthor.”

Lena gasps and laughs, to Kara it’s like music. “Well, let’s get on with it then, Mr Kent, Miss Danvers. Ask me what you’re here for! The Venture explosion and my role in it.”

“Well, did you have a role in it Miss Luthor?” Clark replies with the question they have been skirting around.

“You wouldn’t be asking me this if my last name was Smith, would you?”

“No I wouldn’t. But it’s not. It’s Luthor.”

“Oh, some _steel_ under that Kansas wheat.” Lena teases back, her eyes narrow at Clark. “It wasn’t always my name, I was adopted into the family. My relationship with Lex was good, until he lost his mind to a war with Superman.” She press a button on a small remote, the screen shows the new logo for L-Corp. “I want to move away from it, start the changes to make this a force for good. I’m trying to make it outside of my family’s shadow. Do you understand that?”

Kara looks to Clark for a moment and then back to Lena. “Yes, I can. I hope you achieve it, Miss Luthor.”

Clark returns the side look and then gives it to Lena as well. “We’d need something more substantial.”

Lena stands from her desk and retrieves a USB stick and hands it over to Clark. “Everything about the parts that exploded on the Venture are on that drive, including the subsidiary company that made it. I hope this helps you.”

“Thank you, Miss Luthor.” Clark says

 

* * *

 

 

A few minutes after they leave the L-Corp building, Kara gets a call from Alex, for the second time today.

“Kara! The venture explosion, Lena wasn’t behind it! Winn figured out she was the intended target and we have reason to believe there’s going to further attempts on her life. Keep an eye out while we dig further!”

It’s at this moment that a weird buzzing sound occurs in the skies, drones flying near the L-Corp building. “Kara, I think maybe that’s our cue.”

“Alright let’s go.” she looks around quickly.

They both duck into an alley and fly up in a rush, coming in extremis to stop the assault on the woman’s life.

After the two Supers are done rounding up the last few drones, Lena is whisked away by her security detail. Kara joins her cousin in the sky.

“Go check in with Alex and J’onn, I’ve got to stop her from doing that renaming ceremony, it’s too dangerous.” Kara says with determination.

 

* * *

 

 

As  it stands, convincing a CEO to put a stop to a project they have been working on, doesn’t go down very well.

Kara flew to L-Corp, but even going in as the sunshine reporter Lena first met, she can only get Lena to push it back a day, with increased security provided by the “FBI” (DEO).

Even so, minutes before the ceremony, Kara finds herself walking side by side with Lena, trying to convince her to relent, for her safety. As she watches the woman climb up to the pedestal from which she’ll give her speech, her attention slowly begins to return to her surroundings. She catches her sister _staring_ up at Lena, surprise on her face.

Before she can process fully what the wide-eyed doe look her sister is giving means, explosions rock the park and the nearby building. She’s forced to fly up, to stop the collapse of the main building.

 

* * *

 

Alex’s momentary distraction by the young CEO is sudden and is put in sharp contrast by the bubbling thoughts that are on her mind since Kara told her about the detective. The shade of pink on her cheek, the rapid beating of her heart and the warmth she feels are clearer now than they could have been before.

When the explosions occurs,  people start evacuating the main plaza and Alex shift into agent mode. The adrenaline rush of her own realization brings her focus in sharp, as the urgency of the situation rises.  She catches sight of Corben moving decisively through the crowd, and follows him.

He leads her straight to the Luthor heiress, who looks so relieved to have found a bit of safety. She seems so vulnerable in the moment, her heart breaks a little for the woman when the man’s gun rises making her need for safety more urgent.

Alex’s ready for it. She grabs the gun-wielding arm and with one elbow to his face, she disarms him, the gun sliding to the stunned Luthor’s feet.  He recovers fast from the maneuver and lands a few good blows, he maneuvers to grab her by the neck from behind. She braces her body and jumps up, using the downward momentum to throw him over her shoulder.

He rolls with it; toward his gun! Lena kicks it away from his grasp, he pulls a knife and lunge for his target. Alex draws her weapon and fires, he drops hard onto the ground, blood pooling under him.

“Corben is down, Medical condition critical.” She steps to him and drops to her knees, administering basic first aid.

“Thanks, Miss…” Lena slowly steps back, uncertain about her own safety until Supergirl lands nearby and starts checking on people, making her way towards Lena.  

Alex looks up at Lena and smiles, flashing the FBI badge. “Next time, listen to my sister, okay? She gives good advice.” She looks to Corben beneath her, and then back to Lena. “Thanks for helping me out, that could’ve gone badly.”

“Agent Danvers, are you okay? Miss Luthor?” Kara takes a step closer, bits and dust of concrete clinging to her suit and hair.

Lena takes a deep breath and nods. “I’ll be okay, Supergirl.”

Paramedics, accompanied by a few FBI agents, take Corben away on a gurney, rushing him to the nearest hospital. Lena, Alex and Supergirl find themselves hanging near the NCPD’s command center as the local police start their investigative work starting with taking  all three of their statements.

Kara watches as her sister dotes on every little scratch that appears on Lena’s arms, she keeps a bit of distance from the situation. She watches Lena listen to Alex give her statement, rapt attention from the CEO and there’s a moment where the Luthor’s hand taps Alex on the shoulder to get her attention.

“Do you know if your sister made it out okay? I haven’t seen Kara since the conference started.” Concern lacing her tone.

She watches Alex’s eyes soften in ways she’s never seen before.  

“She evacuated right after the explosions started, she’s fine.”

Kara takes a step closer to them, just as silence settles between them. “I’m going to go back, I’m glad you got out of this okay, Miss Luthor.” she extends a hand to the woman.

The handshake gets caught in a picture by James, one that make the headlines.

 

* * *

 

 

 

> **_Maggie [17:03]_ ** _Hey! Are you up for drinks tonight?_
> 
> **_You [17:05]_ ** _I was at the L-Corp conference today._
> 
> **_You [17:05]_ ** _Can it be tomorrow?_
> 
> **_Maggie [17:06]_ ** _Yes, are you okay? That got crazy fast_
> 
> **_You [17:07]_ ** _I am. Where tomorrow?_
> 
> **_Maggie [17:10]_ ** _Will text you the address tomorrow, around 7?_
> 
> **_You [17:10]_ ** _Works 4 me, tty tomorrow_


	4. Baby steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara struggles with the changes in her life, throughout the day the women in her life help her navigate the confusing mess of her feelings. Cat Grant reveal a secret, Alex stumbles out of the closet as a fully fledged disaster lesbian as Lena come to visit. Maggie and Kara engage in hot, uncensored slowburn hand-holding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot Content Warning: Pre-relationship Hand holding.
> 
> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

Kara leaves the new CatCo editor’s office with a piece of torn paper in her hand and cheek tinted red, without even thinking about it, she burst into Cat Grant’s office, casually dumping the ripped shred of papers into the bin near the door. “So I met the new editor, Mr Carr?”  

Cat looks up from the pages laid out on her desk, every inch of her expression demanding to know why she’s being interrupted.  Her gaze softens considerably when it settles on Kara’s fierce glare. “I take it you don’t approve of my choice?” 

“Well, it would’ve been nice not to have to do the whole ‘getting my name wrong’ all over again.” The smile offered is dry and sarcastic, flavors that are not usually Kara’s own. “Getting told I’m terrible at English is nothing new either, but since he’s decided to be denigrating about it, I’ve placed a request for private tutor with human resources.” 

Cat’s eyes loosen, glassing over as unwanted memories bubble to the surface. “You’re not going to be throwing me off the building again are you, Kara?” She whispers, a flash of worry behind her gaze drains any pretense of control away from Cat. 

Kara’s eyes widen for a moment, the revelation hits like a truck and her whole body sinks and slumps into the couch.

Cat moves, heels clicking hurriedly as she closes the door and locks her office. “I never meant to say that, I panicked and it slipped out. I apologize.”  She states, each step of the apology spoken with wavering control. 

“I… I think I’m the one who owes you an apology.” A nervous laugh, Kara closes her eyes to avoid looking at Cat, even as the older woman stands before her.

“And I think Maxwell Lord is the one who owes me one.” When met with the confused, almost panicked look of her protégé Cat shrugs the strangely tragic weight of the moment off like it’s a cheap coat from a thrift store. “He explained to me, in no small amount of dreary details, what happened to Supergirl for her to commit these atrocities.” 

Kara pulls the glasses off and sets them on top of Cat’s desk, using her other hand to wipe away tears. “I guess the two of me didn’t work then?” She laughs a little bit before it turns into a sob. 

“It worked for a time, but there’s only so many times you can sneak out of work to run after Supergirl without it getting suspicious again.” Watching as Cat struggles to keep her own composure is heartbreaking in its own way. She sits on the couch, right next to Kara.

“What brought this on?” Kara asks, drying her tears.

“Cold sarcasm is not something I’ve seen you apart fromunder pretty specific circumstances.” Cat sighs. “I had flashbacks for a moment. Something more to burden my therapist with.” She waves it off. “Do you really need the tutoring in English?” 

As she answers the question, Kara feels a sense of relief that almost causes her to choke on her words,“I know several other planets main languages, I know a lot of Earth’s too. English is one of the last I’ve learned. It’s hard to keep track of it. I think a Tutor would help me.” 

“Well, I’ll instruct HR to let you take the tutoring. Just make sure to pick a good one.” Cat taps her finger against her chin, an idea dancing under the surface before bubbling out. “With President Marsdin putting her Alien Amnesty plan into action, do you think you could do some translation work for alien locals?” 

Kara smiles “I thought about it, maybe we could hire a few of them to do it too?” 

Cat roll her eyes with a little smile. “I suppose I could leave a note for that too.” 

“A-are you leaving Miss Grant?” 

“I am. I need to dive too.” 

 

* * *

 

Alex waits next to her sister’s door, waiting for her to return from work, she’s devouring her third donut of the day. Every nerve ending in her body buzzes with a strange, exciting energy and her thoughts are a mess of conflicting thoughts swimming in a rush of new, unknown feelings. 

“What’s wrong, you never eat sugar in the middle of the day?” Kara walks past her and unlocks the door, letting them into the apartment. 

“I’ve been nervous and thinking about a lot of things lately, especially since our last conversation.” Her voice almost breaks on the words, but she carries them through nonetheless. Alex can feel Kara stiffen from ten feet away, she can see the way her sister is gathering what she needs to make tea, avoiding any angle that makes her look towards her. 

“I’ve started working on the kidnapping article.” Her heat vision speeds the process of boiling the water. “I have to take english tutoring classes, or I’m not going to keep my job.” 

“Do you want me to help you?” Alex offers, resting against the kitchen island, watching her sister still avoiding looking at her.

Kara stops her work on the tea and rest her hand on top of the counter, eyes closed as she tries to find the words. “I’d rather not, I’m having HR pay for the tutor and they could use the loss of money.” 

“Should I leave?” Alex points to the door and almost takes a step.

“Please don’t.” The answer short, fast, betraying the pace of her breathing. 

“Then please look at me.” Alex pleads. 

Kara can hear her sister’s heartbeat rise with a surprising acceleration, she turns to the side and she’s met with a wide, desperate gaze.

Alex can see fear in her sister, not just in her eyes  but in every gesture she’s making, even the way she stands seems to indicate she might run away. “Did I do something wrong?” 

The silence that follows is heavy and cold. 

Words, concepts and images all fight in Kara’s mind, and her expressions don’t conceal much of it. 

“Kara talk to me, say something, please.”  Alex’s voice trembles, a bone-deep shiver course through her arms.

“I know what you mean by what you said. I heard it, I was trying to ignore it.” She takes a deep breath and walks slowly away from her kitchen and rests both of her hands on the back of her couch. “I saw the way you looked at Lena too, I already had an idea.” 

“Is that why you seem to feel weird about it?” The tremors leaves Alex’s voice, replaced with something heavy and painful

“No, I don’t think she’s anything like her brother.” she bends a bit further and rests her forehead on top of her hands. 

“Then what is it?” 

“It’s hard to put into words.” She pulls herself back up.

“Try,” Alex demands but she falters, whispering in desperation. “...for me please?” 

“It’s like… I can go to the library and take out several books about.. **_this_ ** .” She make a vague gesture. “They could be fiction, autobiographical or any number of genre, right?”

“Yes?” She waits for her sister to get to the point, she resists the urge to tap her feet on the floor.

“I could read every book on earth about this and not a single one of them could give me a hint as to what I’m supposed to do with this, for myself.” she wrings her hands together. “I feel like I’m breaking something important and precious, something I won’t be able to fix.”

“You’re home here with us and you know you have people who’ll fight for this every day of their lives.” 

Kara nods and takes a deep breath, she forces a smile, which fades immediately when Alex rolls her eyes at her attempt. “What were you going to tell me, before I made it all about me again.” 

“I wanted to tell you that I think I’m gay,” tears fall from the corner of Alex’s eyes. “That you’re the first one I thought of telling, that I’m happy that maybe we share something more in common and that I hoped it’d make you feel a little less alone.” 

Kara can’t really hold her tears in either as she pulls Alex into her arms. The words rush out without pause. 

“I don’t know how to make it better, I don’t know if I feel less alone, but I know that I’m behind you a hundred percent. I’m sorry I didn’t leave you enough space to figure this out sooner, I’m sorry I can’t even say the words, please don’t think I hate you.” 

The hug lasts for several minutes, the strength of her sister keeping her there almost immobile. “Kara you’re squeezing too hard.” Alex says after a moment too long in the crushing hold. As she’s released, she reaches for the tissue box and offers one to Kara too. “When you’re ready for it or when you need it, you can talk to me about this, okay?” 

Kara nods “Well, I’m not entirely ho---” there’s a knock on the door and Kara quickly surveys who it is with her X-ray vision. A little smirk grows on her. “It’s your future wife.” she teases and backhands her sister’s shoulder. 

“Wait what?” Alex rubs the stricken spot and quickly hides the two discarded tissues in her back pocket. 

Kara unlocks the door, opens it and behind it is Lena Luthor.

“I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, I just had to make sure you were okay after the mess that conference was ---” she notices Alex, smiles her way and finishes her sentence. “I mean, your sister said you were okay, but, better make sure myself.” 

“Thanks, that’s very nice of you, Miss Luthor!” Kara shuts the door behind her, a confused glance to Alex for a short moment. 

“I also wanted to ask how to contact your sister, because I didn’t manage to convince my contact in the FBI to give me her number.” She smiles between the two sisters. “I had to make sure to thank her properly.” 

Alex tries not to laugh at the wagging eyebrow that her sister makes from behind the CEO’s back. “It’s often a matter of security, i’m sure it wasn’t personal.” Alex digs out her wallet with the intent of giving her card to Lena. The simple gesture makes the used tissues fall out of her pocket and onto the floor. Nervous at the minor blunder, she crouches to grab at them quickly and hits the back of her head on the kitchen island on her way up. 

Lena steps forward and helps her get to the nearest chair.  “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I think I’m going to live.” She run her fingers over the sore spot and checks them for blood, finding nothing, she lets out a short laugh. 

Kara is laughing, it’s louder and more energetic than the situation truly warrants, as if trying to compensate for the emotional mess they were just a moment ago.

“So, when you catch your breath, Miss Danvers, I’d like to ask for a favor.” Lena seems rather amused by the comical moment.

She stops laughing not long after that. “You can ask me now.” Kara wipes at her eyes again and blows her nose quickly. “I’m listening.” 

From behind Lena, Alex is poking her tongue out at her sister.

“Well, quite simply, I’d like to have a word with Supergirl. I’ve been told by most people I know in media circles, that you were the one who could make it happen.” 

“Well, I have something already planned tonight, Miss Luthor. I think I can get her to visit you tomorrow.” 

“What do you have planned?” Both Lena and Alex ask in unison, sharing an amused smile between them.

“My detective friend invited me for drinks yesterday. I had to put it off until tonight, because, well, explosions.” A soft shrug. 

“Oh well, I won’t hold your preparations for much longer.” She turns to Alex. “You literally saved my life yesterday, could I repay you with dinner tonight?” 

Alex laughs a little bit, as Kara gives her an approving look. “I can accept the invitation, Miss Luthor but I need to go back to work for the afternoon. So, can you call around 6 to tell me where to go?” 

“That’s perfectly fine, I’ll call you.” Lena sets the card into her purse carefully and makes her way out, holding the door for Alex as well. “Miss Danvers, I hope to see you again soon.” 

“Actually, before you go, could you lend me one of your leather jackets?” Kara asks toward Alex with a sheepish smile. She grins at Lena. “I look forward to seeing you again soon. Oh and Lena?, Don’t let her have chocolate and expect to get any back.” 

Alex gives her a thumbs up. “You know where the jackets are.” 

Lena smiles at the blonde. “I’ll get enough for the two of us.” 

 

* * *

 

Maggie watches as the motorcycle rushes down the alleyway, raised eyebrow and a wide smile, her arms uncross and settle on her hips.  As the engine turns off, the detective’s smile softens. “I didn’t expect you to ride in on such a beauty.” She runs her index finger over the front wheel. “You’re full of surprises.” 

She knows Maggie is flirting, she can feel the warmth building on her cheeks, she can feel her stomach spin in all directions and her heartbeat increasing. She hangs the helmet on the handle of the bike, shaking her head to get the hair out of her face. “I don’t get to ride too often, I forgot to tie my hair.”

Maggie clears her throat, looking over Kara’s leather outfit: pants, jacket and the white button up underneath. It forms an unexpected image of the meek reporter she met a few days before.

“Let’s get some drinks, alright?” 

“I didn’t know National City had a dive bar in this area.” Her x-ray vision doesn’t pick anything weird in the immediate surroundings. She watches intently as the detective knocks on the door and gives the password. The door opens, the doorman hides behind the door and she notices the odd way his fingers bend.

They walk into an old 80s love ballad playing from the jukebox, a waitress walks past them, glancing at Maggie and immediately Kara recognizes the odd jaw structure and the eyes: a Roltikkon. The barmaid that smiles at Maggie when they go find a booth in the back is handing a drink to a Phorian man, the little bone outcrop at the side of his eyes isunmistakable. 

As they get to the booth, Maggie gives Kara a cursory glance over her shoulder. “What do you want to drink? My treat.” 

“There’s so many off-worlders here.” She whispers carefully, as she notices more patrons from off-world. She grabs the menu at the end of the booth. One look at it and she sees items named after meals she’s had on other planets, spirits and drinks that could make her drunk, along with a selection of human-friendly items. 

Maggie appears surprised by the comment, but her smile grows wider, her dimples deepens and her eyes light up. “It’s a safe place for them, takes off the stress of hiding, helps them feel not so alone for a moment.” She taps the menu in a particular area. “They also make a mean peach mojito too, if you want my recommendation.” 

Kara nods and sinks into the seat of the booth. “I’ll take that, thanks.” She sets the menu face down in front of herself, fingers drumming on it nervously. 

Maggie calls the Roltikkon waitress to their table. “Darla! Two peach mojitos and a basket of chicken wings.” 

The waitress, Darla, looks at Kara with a suspicious gleam in her eyes, then back to Maggie and  _ that _ look is downright filthy. “Anything else I can do for you two?” 

Kara sees the jealousy play out in Darla’s demeanor and she picks the menu back up. “I had a question, the Aldebaran rum and the basket of Ghorr wings, are they legitimately available or is it just a novelty name to catch tourists?” 

Darla blinks a few times, her expression softens, her words come with a slight stutter. “The wings and the drink are available, but you really don’t want any of it as a human, it could kill you.” 

Kara’s eyes widen ever so slightly, her cheeks puffs out at the idea of being able to taste something she thought forever lost. “One of my friends will definitely become a regular here, thank you.” 

As Darla leaves the table, Maggie sinks a little bit into it. “I thought she didn’t work tonight, sorry about that. She’s my ex, but I think she still has feelings.” 

Kara blinks once, her heart beats faster. The small rush of adrenaline is intense enough that the words slip out without her meaning to speak them. “Is that how she learned English?” 

Maggie’s smile almost fades and her eyes widen. “How do you know that!?” 

“I’m friends with the local Kryptonian. She has a lot of stories to tell.” 

Maggie tilts her head, still stunned by Kara’s breadth of knowledge about off-worlders. “To..to answer your question, yes, it’s how Darla learned English.” She clears her throat.

There’s a palpable moment of silence between the two of them before Kara works up the will to ask the question burning in her mind. “So, you date aliens?” 

“Not exclusively, but I like them better than most humans. There’s a lot of empathy between us.”  

“A lot of things lost forever?” 

Maggie nods quietly and Kara knows better than to press her on it. 

“Thanks for showing me this place, I never thought I’d ever find something like this in my life.” 

The two peach Mojitos are served by the black woman from the bar, while Darla covers for her. The chicken wing basket comes a moment later. 

“Thanks M’gann,” the woman just ruffles Maggie’s hair before leaving, she grabs her drink and slowly sips it. “It’s okay, the place benefits from a bit of secrecy, especially in light of the Alien Amnesty act coming up.”

“Do you know how they feel about that?” 

“The vast majority of the community are happy about it, but quite a few are scared that it’s just a tactic to keep tabs and kick them off world.” Maggie sips her drink slowly, running her index finger on the rim. “Marsdin is pretty solid on that front, but it’s worrying for future candidates though.” 

“I can see why.” Kara tastes the chicken wings, enjoying the momentary quiet moment between them. She watches the detective carefully tear apart a wing, trying to pretend she haven’t noticed her staring. 

“Like what you’re seeing, Danvers?” Maggie teases, wiping her fingers on a napkin. 

“Yeah, I like it a lot.” It’s barely a whisper and it feels like a scream. Her head spin for just a split second. It feels both right and wrong. 

“Enough to make the next time an official date?”  Maggie asks, an hopeful, warm joy in her voice.

The question hits her in the chest, harder than any punch she’s ever gotten, her throat tightens and the words just won’t come out.  Kara reaches across the table and picks up one of Maggie’s hand in hers. She raises a finger, quietly asking for a moment.

“Take your time.” The detective grabs her mojito and drains it in one go, obviously nervous. 

She hesitate, words refuse to form for a moment, a rush of heat rise from her chest and it’s somehow enough. “A lot of things changed for me in the last two days. I’ve had a break up, a career change and then realizing that I…” Her gaze lingers heavily, obviously, longingly on their entwined hands. “This.” Kara shakes her head, gently squeezing Maggie’s fingers. “I think next time should also be just as friends.” 

Maggie’s shoulders slump a little, it seems equal part disappointment and relief, but her hand squeeze back. “Yeah that’s definitely too much. I understand.” 

Kara briefly wishes her Mojito was the glass of rum she really wanted, she takes a sip from it, making Maggie chuckle at the sight. “Tastes pretty good, I like it.” 

The detective almost roll her eyes at the attempt to distract her. “Danvers, I just tried to rush you a lot, I’m sorry. I’m just used to Uhauling the shit out of my relationships.” She clears her throat. “I want to give this a chance, so I’m good with keeping us friends.” Even as the words hurt, she find it in herself to smile through the question “What do  _ you _ want?”

“I… I want you to call me Kara.” She smiles and looks at the tangled hands as she speaks. “I want you to know how special tonight is to me.” She takes Maggie’s hand in both of hers. “I want to see you again, I want us to be friends, for now.”

“Alright, Kara.” Maggie smiles softly, she squeeze the hands with both of hers too and for a brief moment, her eyes glisten with unspilled tears. “I’m hopeful, thank you.” Then her gaze turns mischievous as she look at the pool table. “If you feel up to it, we can play pool for a bit. Loser buys the next round of drinks?” 

It might not be game night, but the competitive side of her rises to the challenge anyway. “You’re on.” She stands up, releases Maggie’s hand, she finishes her drink before heading to the pool table with her.  

Maggie wins easily, deflating, cursing herself as she sinks the last ball, withering under a rather intense pout from her opponent. “You don’t really have to pay for the drinks if you don’t want to.” 

Kara laughs and shake her head. “Maggie, I took the bet and I lost, I’m getting us another round.” As she walks past the detective she give her a side hug and whispers. “Are we good?” 

Maggie chuckles a little bit, comforted by the gesture. “Yes, I’m just afraid I kind of blew it.”

“You blew it out of the water is what you did.” She squeezes the hug and goes to fetch the next round, leaving Maggie smiling and blushing.


	5. Wingman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara tries to have a conversation with her sister, but ends up wing-manning the hell out of AgentCorp throughout the day. A conversation between the Super and a Luthor brings a new light to a few situation in her life. The Danvers sister have a moment together at the end of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot Content Warning: Unsatisfying use of the "There is only one bed" trope. 
> 
> Thanks for [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

Alex sinks into the couch, shielding her eyes from the slowly rising sun as she send a message to J’onn, alerting him of her absence from work for the day. She expects a bit of a stern talking to, but instead she gets a request to take care of herself. “Well, it  _ is _ my first day off in two years.” She whispers to herself.  

Her gaze settles on the sleeping form, hidden beneath the covers of her bed. Lena Luthor is sleeping in her bed. Seeing her laying there ignites something in her heart, something similar to how she used to feel at sleepovers with Vicki. Her heartbeat is accelerated, and her mind is buzzing from the night-long conversation with the smartest woman she’s ever met. 

A shadow lingers near the windows for a moment too long, Alex immediately leaves the comfort of her couch to open the door, before her sister has time to knock on it. Her camo pjs elicit a little laugh from her sister, just like it did in Lena last night. 

“Shhh, she’s sleeping.” 

Kara stands there, a black hoodie and a pair of gray sweats, she clearly didn’t sleep either, her hair wild and untamed. “You slept with her on the first date?!” Kara whispers with a wicked smile. 

“No, we talked until we noticed the sun was rising and she panicked, so I let her sleep here. Taking the day off of work by the way.” She lets Kara in and shuts the door quietly. “I tried to sleep, but...I just can’t.”  

“So, it went well?” Kara yawns and hugs her sister, nearly falling asleep against her shoulder. 

“Uh-huh” Alex nods and kisses her cheek. “You smell like cheap booze, where’d she take you?” 

“I don’t want to talk about it with your guest here.” Kara smiles, in spite of herself, she squirms, bashful because of the secret. 

Alex’s eyebrows wiggle. “On the first date?!” She teases with a deep whisper, batting her arm repeatedly, eager for details.

“No no no.” She bats Alex’s hands away. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Miss ‘I got a billionaire in my bed like it’s no big deal.’” 

Alex chuckles and hugs her sister again, in spite of her protest. “Get here tonight for dinner, we’ll talk about it.” 

“If I’m available, sure.” Kara throws a quick look at the sleeping form of Lena in the bed. “I have to make sure Supergirl doesn’t miss her appointment.” 

Alex smiles and pats her on the back, leading her to the kitchen. “Coffee?” She begins preparation after her sister gives her a thumb up.  

In the bed, Lena stirs with the sounds and the rising morning lights, her arm encircles the other pillow and pulls it firmly against her, an exhausted groan leaves her grin. “Make an extra pot of it to go.” 

Alex’s heart accelerates at the sight and her sister’s stifled laugh isn’t helping. “It’s saturday morning, I think you can afford to not rush into work before 7.”

“Right, forgot about that. Days blend together after a while.” Lena sits up, her wild eyes half-closed, clinging to the pillow. “Oh, hi Kara.” She rubs her eyes, trying to free herself from the fatigue.

Kara waves at the sleep-worn woman. “Hi!” she takes the coffee from her sister’s hand and starts sipping it black. “You look as tired as I feel.” 

“Well, since no one here got any sleep, should we make a brunch out of it? I can drive Lena to work afterwards. We can all rest until then?” Alex offers as she slides a third mug across the counter, successfully luring Lena out of her bed. 

The CEO grabs the hot mug between her fingers, clutching it like it was her very own ‘precious’. “Sure, that sounds great.”

It’s quite a sight for Kara, seeing Lena Luthor go from the high class, powerful woman in suits and magnificent, silk-soft hair to a sleep-deprived, coffee-greedy gremlin in her sister’s PJs with her hair in a messy bun. The sight is magnetic, but she quickly shakes it off. “I’ll leave you two to brunch, I have a bit of a thing to work on today.”

“Press doesn’t stop for anything.” Alex chuckles, amused by the sight of her sister and Lena being sleepy, in her kitchen. 

“Oh, okay! You wouldn’t be intruding.” Lena tries to reassure. 

“I know. Don’t worry about it.” She finishes her coffee and almost snorts when she watches Lena almost nod off in her coffee. 

“Yeah you’re going back to bed.” Alex pries the coffee from Lena’s hand and slowly helps her back into the bed, then closes all the blinds.  

“Bossy.” 

Kara explodes into laughter as she catches Lena say that. “Alright, see you later Alex, Lena.” 

 

* * *

 

Kara lands on the balcony, boots hitting hard and she knocks on the door to alert the CEO.  After she gets invited in by Lena, she steps inside. “You wanted to see me?” She walks about the office, her head tilting to the side as she speaks the question.  _ Oh no _ , she already picked that habit from Maggie.

Lena is wearing a black skirt suit and has a matching metal cup, filled with coffee most likely. “Yes, I figured we should probably have at least a conversation to clear the air and Agent Danvers recommended I share one of my recent technical innovations with you.” 

“Yes, I heard you had a conversation.” Kara raises her eyebrow, watching Lena stumble and  _ blush, _ it’s a surprisingly adorable view. “We can start with the technical innovation and go from there?” She looks at the flowers displayed on Lena’s desk. “Plumerias…”

“You like them?” Lena asks, standing up and reaching for the hidden compartment in the wall next to her desk. She pulls out a small machine, simple looking enough. She unboxes it and sets it on her desk, next to Supergirl. 

“They remind me of home, we had similar looking white flowers in my mother’s tree.” She exhales, melancholic thoughts invading every corner of her mind, for just a moment. She picks up the machine in her hands. “What is it?” 

Kara is so focused on the flowers and the machine that she’s missed the saddened expression of the Luthor. 

“It’s a detection device, allows you to detect aliens by touch.” She quickly points out how to use it. “Alex thought I should ask you what you thought, I agreed.” 

Kara presses the button, a soft frown on her face and it lights up green. “It works by picking up skin samples which means it won’t work on me, the needle can’t pierce my skin.”” She hands it back to Lena. “It’s also made of Nth metal, which means you own the refinery just outside of town.” Kara smiles a bit. “I...why are you making something like that?” 

“Well, I figured people had a right to know who’s hiding among us?”  There’s already some uncertainty in her words.

“Oh yeah, no. Privacy and secrecy is pretty important. I mean, I know that it’s something that could come in handy in some situations, but, what happens when Cadmus or some other group who hates aliens get their hands on it? What if the next president after Marsdin isn’t as friendly toward Aliens?” She shake her head. “If Aliens become citizens, they’ll have a right to privacy as well. This just seems like a tragedy waiting to happen.” She hands the small device back to Lena. 

Lena looks at the detection the device and sets it aside on the desk again. “Well, there goes the first impression.” She scratches at her wrist. 

“I’ve been working with the government for a while now, I’ve been tracking down intergalactic criminals and invaders.” She looks at Lena. “This device would’ve helped. I’m not angry you made it, Miss Luthor, I understand the utility.” She takes a step closer to the other woman. “I feel like forethoughts needs to be important when tech like this comes into play.” 

“I do believe citizens should have a way to protect themselves from potential treats. Aliens can already buy our weapons to protect themselves, our weapons aren’t always enough against Aliens.” Lena sits against the edge of her desk, stifling a yawn. 

“No, I’m aware of that, but I’m also aware that you’d have an easy time finding a way to remediate that.” She looks toward the window and exhales. “I’m not a tech expert, but I trust you can find a way to even the playing field without risking victimizing already vulnerable people.”  

“My point is that they aren’t vulnerable.” 

“And mine is that there’s many ways to be.” Kara stands her ground, annoyance and irritation rising. “Use the detection device and a family suddenly has to worry about going out. Businesses could refuse their presence or one scared person could hurt them, just for wanting groceries.” Kara gestures a bit aggressively outside.  “Devise a weapon that can hurt tougher aliens and you’ve made a weapon that can hurt weaker ones and humans far worse.” Kara takes a deep breath. “You can’t make sure your tech will be used exactly how you want it to be used.”

Lena grows quiet and looks out the window as well, her arms uncross from her chest and she grabs the detection device. “I’ll stash this for now. I clearly haven’t thought the whole thing through.” She sets it inside of the compartment. “I tend to focus heavily on the goal and I don’t always think of the collaterals. I apologize.” 

Kara smiles a little. “Well, apologies aren’t necessary.  You want to protect your people, I understand. I’m happy I could offer a bit of insight? I think that’s what Alex wanted?” 

Lena nods in response. Eager to change the topic, she forces it “Why did you shake my hand, after the conference?” She asks, her voice weak with hesitation. 

“Because I want people to try and give you a real chance and not just look at the name.” She exhales. “I know it’s hard to step out of a shadow that big and try to shine your own light.” 

“People compare you to Superman a lot?” The question is soft, it brings a kind smile to Lena’s face.

“It used to be much worse, but it still happens.” Kara blinks, chasing memories of Maxwell Lord away.

“You have much better hair.” Lena teases.

Kara laughs lightly. “Thank you, but you better keep the compliments for Agent Danvers.” 

“Oh really? Agent Danvers would like me to compliment her hair?” Lena raise her eyebrow, in surprise.

Supergirl smiles knowingly. “If what I heard is right, I think it should be obvious. I’ll even slip in a good word for you.”

“I’m surprised you would.” She looks toward where she stashed the device.

“Miss Luthor, I gave you my opinion and feelings on your ideas and you’re taking them into account. It’s all I can ask for.” Supergirl speaks in a soft voice.

“Thank you.” A genuine smile breaks the worried facade.

 

* * *

 

Supergirl lands in her own apartment, she finds her sister curled up on the couch and she smiles warmly at the strange sight. “I’m surprised you actually didn’t go to work.” 

Alex’s eyes open, fluttering against the sudden light and movement around her. “Hey.” her voice is soft and trembling, her arms move to wipe at her eyes. She sits up in a hurry.

Kara tilts her head, sighing a little as she remembers once more, where she got the habit. “Are you okay?” She takes a seat at her sister’s side, wrapping her arm around her shoulders, setting her cape over them like a blanket.

“I spoke with Lena earlier” She wipe at her eyes again slowly. “She told me about how Supergirl helped her understand what her ideas meant for people concretely.” Alex closes her eyes and finally rests against her shoulder.

Kara’s eyes narrow and her expression shifts to ask a silent question. “I’m not making a connection with what you’re saying and you crying.” She kisses the top of her sister’s head. 

“Well, I’m touched that you nudged her to compliment my hair, however awkward she was about it.” Both of them giggle. “She also told me what you said about her Alien detection device.” She clears her throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t consider any of it enough to mention it to her.”

Kara squeezes her shoulder and kisses her head again. “Is that all there is to it?” 

Alex shakes her head. “Can we talk about you and Maggie?” 

Kara nods once, her throat and chest tighten to the point of discomfort. “Yeah.” 

“When I came over here to tell you about me being gay.” She takes a deep breath. “You were super cold and awkward about and I… didn’t get it.” Alex wraps her arm around her sister. “I’m sorry I got offended by it, I think I get it a bit better now.” 

Kara smiles and shrugs. “I went to see her last night on my bike, trying to impress her, but in the back of my mind. I was already wondering how to mess the whole thing up.” She takes a deep breath. “Do you know where she invited me Alex?” Her eyes water and tears spills. 

Alex shakes her head and she squeezes the hug harder.

“She took me to a bar, where the local aliens hang out and play pool and have drinks. They have drinks and food from planets I visited and rum I saw my family enjoy during holidays.” She wipes at her eyes. “Maggie dated the Roltikkon waitress that brought us our drinks.” She chuckles. 

Alex blinks and wipes at her eyes. “Wow.” 

“I plan on taking J’onn there.” She wipe her eyes. “I feel like I have a place, I feel like she has a place for me in her heart, for the whole of me.” Kara sniffles. “It’s hard to put into words how it feels.” 

“Do you still feel like you’re doing something wrong?” 

“Yes, I feel like I shouldn’t be letting this happen, I feel like this isn’t okay or a proper thing for a Kryptonian to do but… I can’t articulate why.” She sniffles. “I need a way to make sense of it. I don’t know if there’s a way.” 

Alex rubs her sister’s back. “I hope you let the happiness win. I’ll be here for you either way.” 

“Look, a lot changed at once and I might be panicking about that too? Reporting, Breaking up with James. Meeting Maggie and then diving into a kidnapping story. It’s a lot.” She closes her eyes. “Plus, I have this weird… hunch about the kidnappings.” 

“What kind of hunch?” 

“Cadmus.” There’s an unspoken word with that, heavy and painful, neither sister has the will to bring themselves to say it.

Alex sighs heavily and holds Kara in her arms. “Yeah. You got too much on your mind, let me care of a few things.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is almost entirely written. Much shorter wait for the next one.


	6. Red Dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara helps Maggie lead her investigation on the kidnappings to a surprising conclusion, In this chapter inspired by the events of Supergirl Lives (2x09). Susan Vasquez has a few words of wisdom for Supergirl, Alex, Winn and J'onn meet Maggie for the first time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot content warning: Pre-relationship Kiss on the cheek!   
> AU Warning: I've taken liberties with the location of Slaver's moon  
> Pop Culture Fail: Unfortunately no wolverines make appearances in this chapter. 
> 
> Thanks for [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

> **_Maggie:_ ** _ Hey, I hope im not being too fast, but I need your help _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ no worries, what do you need?  _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ Need your reporter skills. _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ Why, what did you find? _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ come to this address tomorrow morning. Will brief you there. _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ this is weird? _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ I know, cant talk over text about it. Will you be there? _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ Yes! _

 

* * *

__

 

Kara flies for a while, looking for the address that the detective gave her. It’s a building right at the edge of a warehouse district and a residential area where less fortunate people live. She lands a few blocks away, between buildings and changes to the day’s work outfit: Dark khaki pants with a blue button up and running shoes. 

Maggie does a double take when Kara appears around the corner, a little smile brings up the dimples on the familiar face. Black jeans, white button up with the oversized blue jacket over it. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, I appreciate it.” 

Kara greets her with a quick hug and a warm smile. “Of course, what do you need?” She looks around at the buildings surrounding them, trying to find the exact address. 

“I’ve been blocked in this investigation by someone up in the chain of command.” She sighs and scratches the back of her head. “It might be a problem I can solve, but it’d take quite a while and there are people disappearing.” She nods towards the building. “That building is a common thread in a lot of these kidnappings, or rather, the owners are.”

“Why would someone block you?” Kara asks, her expression twisted in confusion.

“I’m guessing big money or someone who has a hand in this.” Maggie shrugs. “I want to save these people before looking into that.”

Kara gives her a warm smile and pulls her into a side hug, her heart flutters. She peeks over her glasses and scans the building quickly: Nurses anddoctors occupy some of the space. As her gaze shifts to the basement, her eyes widen for just a moment. A large, demi circular machine stands there, guarded by two armed men. “From the outside, It feels like an old medical clinic.”.

“Yes, they drew people here for scientific studies and cheap medical exams, they have a recruiter and all. A suspicious amount of subjects haven’t left the building in a month,  maybe longer” She points at the entrance door. “I need you to investigate it as a reporter and give me a sign if someone’s clearly in distress.” Maggie digs into her jacket’s pocket.

“I’m helping provide a technicality for you to be able to do your job, aren’t I?” Kara teases Maggie with a nod. “How do you want me to give you the signal?”

Maggie rolls her eyes and bumps her hip against Kara’s. “Yep, I need to know if anyone is in immediate distress or if there’s any obvious alien technology. I’m with the science division in the NCPD so if that happens, I can force an immediate investigation.” She pulls out discreet earpieces. “I got this from a government operation I know of, this’ll allow you to speak to me and the lady that lent it to me.” 

“Alright, sounds good.” Kara raises her eyebrows at the device, it’s the same earpiece model from the DEO, she puts it in. 

The familiar voice of Susan Vasquez comes through the piece.  “This is City roost, Identify yourself.”

Maggie puts her own earpiece on and nods to Kara. “Maggie here.” 

“I’m Kara Danvers.” She almost laugh at the situation. “Happy to help.”

“Alright, Maggie you’re Steel Eagle three and Kara you’re Steel Eagle four.” Susan sounds like she finds her own joke funny.

“Why three and four?” Maggie asks as she leans against the wall of the building right next to her civilian police cruiser.

“It’s a call sign allowed for non-personnel members who occasionally help. You’re the third and fourth people.” Susan explains. 

Kara pats Maggie on the back, to draw her attention. “Do you have the recruiter’s name?”

“The recruiter’s name is Julia Greene” Maggie smiles at Kara. “I don’t want you to risk your life for this, okay? If something goes south, request our help and run away.” 

“I won’t let you down.” Kara steps toward the building, intent on seeking out what she saw in the basement, but she’s stopped by Maggie’s grasp on her arm. She turns around, questioning the gesture with a little tilt of her head.

Maggie pulls Kara closer by the sleeve of her shirt and press her lips against the other woman’s cheek. “For good luck.” 

Kara turns a deep shade of red and her heart goes wild. She seems frozen into place until Maggie playfully shoves her toward the building.

Kara approaches the door and takes a deep breath, she uses the doorbell and then pushes on her personal earpiece. “Steel Eagle one to City Roost, Requesting Viper.”

Winn speaks “Alright, transferring you!” The moment after Vasquez’s voice comes in with a palpable joy in it. “I have like, a thousand questions for you!” 

“Keep ‘em for later. Scramble a team, alien portal tech in the basement.” The door buzzes and she’s let in, a nurse welcomes her with a curious smile. “Keep my cover on Maggie, please.”

“Welcome miss, what can we do for you?” The nurse sets her hands on Kara’s arms, it’s a gesture she means to comfort with, but it’s really a controlling grip.

“I’ve been told to come here by Julia Greene?” She whispers that and the woman grabs her arm.

“Come with me, we’ll take care of you.” The woman almost drags her down a hallway, and Kara struggles not to pull too hard to give herself away, where a man in a lab coat greets them with a smile.

“What can we do for you miss?” He asks, a warm smile, turning his attention toward the two women entering his office. One look and Kara detects no medical equipment.

“I’m starting to have some issues with my hearing and sight, some lights and sound get overwhelming and I don’t know where that comes from. I’m worried.” Kara explains, knowing she can prove those effects if they scrutinize. “Miss Greene told me I should come here to get checked, that it wouldn’t ruin me.”

“I think we should probably start by a scan, if you’re okay with it miss..” He stands up. “She’s right. Don’t worry about the cost we’re very well funded, we charge a pittance compared to anything else in the US.” The doctor takes her by the shoulder and leads her out of the office. He shoots a look at the nurse over his shoulders. “In the worst case scenario, maybe you’ll be down 100$” 

A soft anger wells inside Kara, preying on people’s health scares like this is monstrous at best. 

The doctor takes a turn and they head towards an elevator. “We’ll be going down in the basement, that’s where all the heavier equipment is.” 

She hears the nurse through the wall speaking on the phone as they walk through the first floor’s hallways.  _ “We have a reporter here, you need to get rid of her at all cost. We can’t have this out to the public.” _

Kara press on the earpiece with Maggie on the line, under the pretense of scratching her ear. “Basement, hate basement.” 

“If that was a call for help, say ow.” Maggie speaks as she grabs her badge and gun.

Again with the pretense of scratching herself, she utters an ouch. The elevator door opens and they both get in.

“Are you okay? Miss?” 

“Nervous, medical stuff is never fun.” 

The door opens as they reach the lower floor, the two armed guards awaits “I’m afraid this won’t be any different, Miss Danvers.” 

“I’m afraid you’re not going to like it either.” Kara grabs the doctor by the arm and flings him at one of the two guards. There’s a short flash of light as they revert back to their natural, scaly forms. The other guard steps up to Kara and gets knocked out by a headbutt, the illusion fading from him too.

The doctor struggles back to his feet and towards the demi-circular machine, a swirl of purple energy appears as he approaches and he dives through the portal. Two more of the alien guards step out of the portal already firing their pulse weapon at Kara.

She can hear Maggie kick down the door and fire several warning shots, ordering everyone out. She can hear the engine of the DEO van and the voice of her sister and Vasquez. She can hear Maggie rushing down the stairs. 

It’s a split second decision, she lets herself be hit by the pulse weapon once, it’s a strong impact, but it barely make her stumble back. Another blast hits her and she flings herself back into the nearby wall, encasing herself in it. 

To her credit, Maggie is a crackshot and the moment she steps out of the staircase, she fires twice and disarms one of the guys and hits the other in the leg, he raises his arms in surrender. “Kara?!” She steps between the alien guards and her, shielding her with her body. 

Her heart flutters again at the sight, she struggles not to smile too much. “I’ll be fine.” She coughs a bit, she clings to her stomach, trying to fake pain and a minor injury. “I can’t get out on my own.”

Maggie is tense, watching the portal closely, worry written all over her face. She slowly backs away from the aliens, weapon trained on them. She grabs Kara’s hands with her left one and pulls her out. “Who took these two out?” 

“I did…” She chuckles and groans, faking a bit of an injury, holding her ribs. “My sister taught me how to defend myself.” Kara stays kneeling on the ground. “Go cuff them, they’re surrendering.” 

As Maggie makes her way carefully toward them, weapon aimed. Kara make her eyes glow bright red from behind Maggie, as a sort of warning to them. Cuffing them is easy enough after that. 

Winn, Susan, Alex and J’onn appear out of the staircase a few minutes later. They find Kara sitting on the floor near the hole in the wall and Maggie finishing a bandage on the alien she injured during the arrest. 

Alex rushes to Kara’s side, while Susan goes to debrief Maggie and the two men start analyzing the portal, throwing looks toward Kara every other moment. 

“Kara are you okay?!” There’s genuine concern in her sister’s voice, but it fades away with Kara’s retort.

“Yes, totally okay, I’m faking! You ass.” Both sisters roll their eyes at the slightly overblown sarcasm..

“Alright, I’ll have Susan escort you to the medical bay and you can call in Supergirl while you’re there.” She shakes her head. “I’ll have a little talk with Miss Detective over there.” 

“Be nice, she literally just saved my life.” She uses Alex to help herself up and watches as Susan returns her way. 

“Really Kara!? The little shit is DEO?” Maggie teases as she stand back up, once the bandage is finished 

“NDAs are a pain.” Kara offers an apologetic smile which Maggie clearly accepts with a smile. 

“The little shit is DEO Agent Danvers and this is Director Henshaw.” She points to J’onn and Winn fiddling with the portals, mumbling amongst themselves for now. 

 

* * *

They climb the stairs back up in silence and walk out of the building, pretending Kara is in pain and unable to walk on her own. It’s a little odd watching the DEO agents move about. 

“I didn’t know that Maggie was aware of the DEO.” Kara finally speaks as they reach the van. 

“She’s the NCPD liaison with the DEO.  It’s a secret position and she has level 1 clearances.” Susan explains. “I... wasn’t aware you were the reporter contact she’s been babbling about.” 

“She’s been talking about me?” Kara asks in a whisper. 

“About a cute reporter girl she met and is trying to take her time with.” Susan says with a very low voice, trying to avoid other people hearing it. “She’s been very good at not letting me know who.” 

Kara blushes way too deeply for it to be comfortable. 

“Hey, I won’t even say a word to your sister, okay? I know how hard it is to figure yourself out, you don’t have to worry about me spilling anything out.” A hand rest on the Kryptonian’s shoulder.

Kara looks surprised at the revelations implied. “You’re?...” 

“I don’t appreciate the implications that you thought I was straight.” Susan jokes lightly and Kara joins the laugh a bit. 

“It’s not something I’m happy with or that I understand yet. I’d prefer if… we didn’t talk about it.” She scratches the back of her head.

“Hey, that’s fine. Just know that when you figure yourself out that there’s a whole bunch of people who are ready to welcome you with open arms and that you’d bring them hope too.” Susan gives Kara quick hug. “Now I think you better change and get back in.” 

Kara takes a deep breath and almost cools the temperature in the van as a result.  She changes into the super suit and watches as Vasquez closes the door to the van behind her. 

 

* * *

 

Supergirl appears in the basement, after spending a moment helping the DEO move the rest of the staff to the same room and making sure they’re not hiding any surprises with her X-ray vision.  She’s called to the basement by Alex and J’onn after a while. 

“There she is!” Maggie calls as the Kryptonian shows up, arms crossed over her chest as she studies her. 

Alex rolls her eyes and smiles towards her sister. “You made it, we almost jumped through that portal without you.” 

Winn waves at her and J’onn approaches the ladies. “This portal, as far as we can tell, leads to another planet. Atmospheric analysis says we can send a team to rescue the victims.” He looks over Maggie. “Are you coming with us?”  

“Well, Little shit here is arguing jurisdiction to keep me out of it.” Maggie tilts her head towards Alex. 

“Excuse me, I’m trying to spare you from unnecessary danger so I don’t have to explain to my little sister that I let her--” Alex air quotes “--’Best friend’ dive into a portal that leads to another planet.” 

Supergirl stares at J’onn trying to ignore the growing heat on her cheek. “Will you be coming with us, Director?” 

“Unfortunately I have to remain behind to organize our agents. Miss Danvers would lead the team.” J’onn shrugs once. 

“Then can I suggest that Detective Sawyer help make sure the portal doesn’t let anything else in? Maybe you could assign someone or stay here with her?” Kara watches Maggie roll her eyes. “Hey it’s a good occasion to work on your contacts.” 

“Well, Okay. Is Kara going to be alright?” Maggie sighs, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.

“A few bruised ribs according to Vasquez. Thanks for looking out after her” Alex says, much softer than she was speaking a moment ago. “For all the shit I just gave you, I appreciate you trying to keep her safe.”

Winn approaches the group. “So I’m ready to open the portal, we need to move fast, this thing pulls a lot of power and I’m not sure we have enough funding to pay for the electric bill.”

The group chuckles lightly at the joke. J’onn taps him on the back. “Agent Schott, make sure these people can come back from the other side.” He then looks to Maggie and while the rest of the group goes over to the portal, he mumbles. “Just make sure to keep him safe.”

“Roger that.” 

 

* * *

 

A team of twenty paramilitary soldiers, led by Alex and Supergirl waits for the portal to open. The moment is tense and every second feels longer than the last. The purple swirls appears and Agent Schott gives the go ahead. Supergirl dives in, Alex dives in and then the rest of the armed forces march forward. 

There’s a sense of longing building in Maggie’s chest, for the chance to see what’s on the other side. Part of it worries about Kara’s sister, being an FBI agent would be enough for the reporter to worry about, but a Black Ops agent diving into portals is entirely different thing. “Are you sure they’re safe on the other side?” 

Winn turns to her and smiles. “The place they’re landing in supports life and has comparable gravity. But it’s also supposed to be a place where aliens keeps human, so I can’t promise it’s safe. Alex and Supergirl are badasses though, so they’ll be fine.” He pats her on the shoulder and then resumes his work on the device.

On the other side of the portal; it’s a wasteland locked between two mountains and only one path forward, An alien fortress perched on the flank casts an ominous shadow over the nearby flatlands.

Supergirl comes out first and is immediately attacked by one of the scaled aliens, two punches and the guy is down.  Alex intercepts the second and takes him down with just one sweep of the leg and an elbow to the face. 

Kara exclaims in pain as she sees the blood pours out of her knuckles, one look over her shoulder and a red star looms over the horizon. 

Alex is on her while the rest of the team makes sure the immediate area is safe for them to organize around. “Are you okay, what’s happening?” 

“Red sun.” Both sisters looks at the darkening sky and the setting, furious red light. Kara takes a stumbling step toward the crimson sunset. “I don’t have my powers here.” 

Alex pulls the medkit out of her pack and swiftly apply bandages and disinfectant, a few minutes of intense focus and the wounds are bound and clean. “I’d ask for you to leave, but you might be able to help us if we encounter people who wants to talk it out.” 

Kara stares at the sky with her eyes wide and brimming with tears. As the red sun sets, something else rise above another part of the sky, it’s a planet surrounded by a ring. Her mind conjures a distant memory of stargazing with her mother. She let out a choked gasp as the piece of this celestial puzzle assemble easily in her mind.

After casting a glance over her shoulder as the team gathers nearby, Alex turns back to Kara. “What is it?” 

Kara’s hand extend toward the horizon, as if trying to catch the dying daylight between her fingers and she’s hit with a strong dizzying spell. She falls to her knees. “Rao!” As the last light disappears behind the horizon, her shoulders slump and her tears fall into the dust. “That was Rao!” 

“So the ringed planet is?...” Alex whispers, terrified of the potential answers.

“Daxam isn't supposed to have a ring.” Kara chokes out the answer as her tears falls into the moon dust beneath. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!


	7. Interstellar rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supergirl assist the DEO team and her sister rescue the kidnapping victims, her knowledge of the local language and technology comes in handy as they invade the slaver's complex. Alex leads her team through the alien fortress and faces some difficult decisions during the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

The DEO agents keep a respectful distance from the sisters, watching over the portal and trying to figure out a way to signal Agent Schott at the other end of the portal. A purple swirl of energy appears and he appears through the portal, an expression wrought with fear and worry. 

“Gotta be on this side, or I won’t know if there’s someone wanting to come back.” 

One of the newer agents pats him on the shoulder. “One of us can stay back to bodyguard you, just ask Danvers when she’s back.” He points to Alex and Supergirl in the distance.

“Woah, what happened?” Winn asks, keeping his voice low as he watches the two sisters.

“See that Asteroid belt in the sky?” The agent points to the impressive line across the sky that passes near a ringed planet. “Apparently that’s Krypton.”

Winn’s heart drops and twists at the sight and the realization, he goes quiet like the rest of the agents there, watching Alex and Kara. 

Alex is sitting next to her sister in the dust, her chin resting on her shoulder and whispering into her sister’s ear, unrelentingly reminding the Kryptonian of her love for her. 

Kara, for the first time in over ten minutes, moves and makes a sound.  It’s a shake of her head and a groan of protest, she tries to stand up, but her sister keeps her down, in her arms. 

“Kara, I know this is painful, I know I have no right to ask this out of you,” Alex swallows thickly, forcing herself to do so as she hears the soldiers behind them rustle around again. “But we’re here to save people, we need you.” 

Somehow there’s a laugh from Kara. “No you don’t, no powers.” She sniffles and wipes at her nose. 

“We’ll probably meet other aliens, not all of them are going to fight. We’ll need you to translate.” Alex stands, using her sister’s shoulder to help herself up. “Help us understand what we find, who we’re fighting.” 

Kara grabs her sister’s offered hand to get up, she leans on Alex to walk back to the group. 

“Daxamites look human, they’re hyper-allergic to lead.” She points to their weapons. “But no one here is going to have lethal weapons, they’re slavers not killers. The pulse weaponry will knock you down like a strong punch.” 

Alex notices Winn trying to hide his own tears behind the group and she goes to him while Kara briefs the others. “What the fuck are you doing here?!” 

“Nothing special.” He retorts with a sniffle. “I have no way to tell if you’re back on the other end of the portal so I have to make it work on this end.” 

Alex surprises herself with the hugs she gives him and she shakes her head. “We’ll leave someone with you, make sure we have a way back.” 

Supergirl joins them, after spending a short moment gathering her thoughts. “We definitely should get going.” Her hand runs quickly over her eyes and she gives Winn a quick hug. “Holy crap, you’re in space.” 

“Yeah well, I’ll keep watch over our door back home.” He looks back at the portal and soon, An armed agent joins him. “By the way, the atmosphere is toxic to J’onn, that’s why he’s not joining us.” 

The sisters nod in understanding and wave Winn and the agent off, leaving with the rest of the group, heading toward the obviously high tech complex perched on the mountain side. 

 

* * *

 

The strike team is efficient to say the least, they march fast toward their goals and react in unison when some kind of aircraft takes off from the distant fortress. Alex throws a look at Supergirl, while they’re hiding behind a rocky formation. 

“This is the equivalent of a jet fighter, except it can go to space. They’re not evacuating anyone yet.” Kara explains, looking over the vaguely familiar craft. It looks battered and old. “By the way, the scaled people are Maaldorians.” 

The jet goes off into space and disappears from view rather quickly, the group resumes their trek towards the fortress. Alex hushes Kara when they come upon a small camp with one of those Aliens, he’s obviously unarmed and he’s roasting pieces of meat over a fire. “And why are they on a Daxam moon?” 

“They’re pretty strong and tough, they make good enforcers and they adapt to life everywhere.” Kara walks past the group. “Let me do the talking, this guy is obviously not with them.” 

Alex confirms Supergirl’s plan with the rest of the team with only a gesture of her hand. Even as she grasps her weapon firmly, just in case. The rest of the agents keeps a close watch on their surroundings. 

The individual watches Supergirl approach his little camp and he keeps roasting his food. “Hungry?” He asks in English, of all languages.

“H-how do you speak english?” Supergirl stands at the edge of the light his fire gives. 

“Prisoners escape sometimes, teach me how to speak, I learn fast!” The English is broken but understandable. “Are you looking to escape, Carbon lifeform?” 

“No, I’m with an earth military team. We’re looking to rescue our people.” Supergirl approaches the fire. “Do you know how we can get into their prison?”

“I know but, you help me too, please carbon lifeform?” There is a smile on the Maaldorian’s face now, hope and joy rise.

“What kind of help do you need? Do you have a name?” Kara asks, her helpful nature tugging her to accept, but it has to go through her sister and the team with her

“I want out of this place, no food, no good people. Take me back with you.” He asks. “Most escapees call me Jo.” .

Supergirl looks over her shoulder, she sees Alex making big, angry eyes at her and shaking her head at the request. “Sure, that won’t be a problem.” She ignores the middle finger raised at her. 

 

* * *

 

Jo shows them the way to go, leading them from the front, Supergirl right behind with a baleful Alex glowering at her. The rest of the team following and taking point, making sure they’re covered at every turn and from every direction. 

“Carbon lifeforms, there is a door in that cavern, they use it for supply from the planet and for secret meetings.” He stops at the cavern.

Alex stares at him. “Wait for us here and warn us if anyone comes in. We’ll leave a soldier with you, okay?”

“No, you’ll need help inside. I can always hide and run.” Jo dismisses the offer for help and he just sits right next to the door. “I hope you find your friends.” 

Supergirl is already inside the cave. “There’s a door here I can open.” She calls. It’s a sliding door with a console right next to it. “It’s written in the Daxamite language, which is just an offshoot of Kryptonese.” 

The strike team gets into position, ready to assault the slaver’s lair.  The door slides open and reveals an empty corridor that leads to more sliding doors. Alex takes the lead, clearing the hallways before allowing Supergirl to proceed further. The lighting is minimal in the area, half of the strike team activates little lights on their weapons. 

“Supergirl, can these computer tell you where we’re going?” Alex asks, standing close to the door with her. 

“No, they’re just computers linked to the door.” Supergirl presses a few buttons and the door slides open again, this time it reveals a larger room with several crates in it. Human-looking guards, with a few Maaldorians reach for their weapons. 

The strike teams pours in before they can actually fire a shot, Alex knocks a Maaldorian down with a hit to the stomach. The rest of the team fires and force the guards to take cover behind the crate. 

Supergirl tackles one of the human-looking guards down, stopping him from activating an alarm. She shouts a warning in Kryptonese and repeats it several times, several of the guards stop firing back in the process. The one she tackled to the floor stops struggling and offers an obvious surrender. 

Alex and the strike team secure the guards after they all surrender, they’re cuffed together and hidden behind a crate. Alex and a few of the other members of the strike team claim the pulse weaponry from the guards. “So, Supergirl, what did you scream while we were fighting?” 

“I warned them that you were firing lead-based projectiles, I figured they wouldn’t want to risk it.” She helps cuff the one she took down and bring him with the rest of the group. “I think we should hurry up and move on.” 

A member of the strike team approach them. “With all due respect, I think Supergirl should try and get the layout of the base from them. This place looks enormous and I don’t think we should try to find things at random.”

Alex looks at Supergirl, grabbing a shoulder in comfort. “Do you think you could speak to them and get them to tell us something about this place?” 

“I suppose I could try it. I don’t think they speak English.” She looks over her shoulder at the captive Daxamite and Maaldorian. “They’re not likely to cooperate though, their planet got wrecked because of mine.” She scratches the back of her head, turning to go join the prisoners, sitting in front of them.

“Ma’am?” The agent next to Alex bumps her with his elbow.

“What?” Alex forces herself to look at the man beside him.

“Should we use the pulse weapons we found or our assault gear? It seems to me we might be kicking a hornet’s nest with our lethal weapons.” He seems unsure, nervous.

“I think we should probably carry our lethal options and use them to scare them further, we’re only here to rescue people, not conquer this place.” She looks over her shoulder to Kara as she seems to be arguing with one of the captive Daxamite. “But replace our side arms with the pulse ones, I think that might be as good a field test as any.” 

“Understood ma’am.” He salutes her and leaves her side, just as Supergirl returns. 

“I know where to find the prisoners, I… I know where they keep some keepsake from Krypton. I’d like to recover them if possible.” The request comes with red faced shame and a heavy gaze that can’t seem to go up from the ground.

“How far apart are the two objectives? We can’t risk the prisoners’ lives over this.” Alex fights hard to keep her composure. The only sign of her internal turmoil is the tremor in her lips.

“The people we’re looking for are all in the same cell, they haven’t processed them further. They don’t know enough about humans yet.” Kara explains vaguely, looking unfocused. “The Kryptonian things are in a storage room with all other ‘alien’ devices taken from their prisoners. It’s in the same wing, in a different hallway.” 

“I can’t promise anything, but if it’s feasible, I think we can at least try.” Alex replies. She takes her sister’s arm and guides her towards what appears to be the other side of this room. “Are you ready to go?” 

As soon as Supergirl confirms, the rest of the team gathers behind Alex and watches as Kara activates the next door. Behind it is a long corridor with only a door on the other end. The strike teams goes in first. 

 

* * *

 

Reaching the prisoners is ridiculously simple, because the moment it becomes obvious that the intruders are bringing lead-based weaponry, barely any guards stand in their way. A few Maaldorians make an attempt, but they’re no match for an hyper-trained military unit. They secure the hallway where the human prisoners are kept, without major issues. 

Alex watches Kara struggle with the device to open the door to the cell, she is almost startled when a member of the strike team pats her shoulder for attention. “What is it Agent Birkeland?” She steps away from the group with the agent.

“I heard what Supergirl requested in the previous checkpoint. I think we should make an effort to recover any earth based tech anyway.” The agent, a woman with short, platinum blonde hair, seems to keep throwing a nervous glance toward the hallway’s entrance. “I don’t think we should let them have stuff that could help them discover how our own tech works.” 

“Agent Birkeland, take a team of five toward the next hallway and investigate.” Alex nods once, patting her shoulder with a thankful smile. “Call in for reinforcement, if you are met with any resistance.”

“Understood.” She salutes Alex and gathers the people she’s most familiar with and they leave the hallway at a brisk pace. 

Supergirl turns to Alex. “I’m talking with Winn on a private channel, there’s a problem with this console.” She steps aside so her sister can look at it, the remaining agents gather around too. “There’s an English language option, that means this place cooperated with the trafficker we found for long enough and plan to do more.”  


Alex frowns and point to two additional member of the teams. “You go guard Agent Birkeland’s six, now.” As the agents take their leave, Alex finishes unlocking the cell. The sliding door opens and reveals about twenty humans, more than either Kara or Maggie had heard of even. 

“Supergirl! You came to save us!” A young woman exclaims, dried blood on the right side of her face. The rest of them looks haggard but uninjured. The cell is a square, empty room except for extremely basic necessities. 

“With some help.” Supergirl looks to Alex. “Listen to Agent Danvers, she’ll help all of you out of this place.” She places a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back, I’m checking on Birkeland’s progress!” 

“You have five minutes, after that we’re evacuating.” Alex calls toward the superhero and starts briefing the people on how they’ll escape. She gives a quick medical look over to each of them as they exit the cell.

 

* * *

 

Evacuating Slaver’s moon goes like a charm, the strike team, the prisoners and the single Maaldorian make their escape, while Winn keeps the portal open. Alex watches Supergirl linger just a moment before stepping into the portal. Winn dives back in a moment after and then she follows. On the other side, they find the same room they left. The prisoners are all huddled in a corner of the room while J’onn and Maggie take in their story. The strike team is checking their gear and sealing their alien weaponry into special cases.

Supergirl has one of those cases in her hands and has already sealed it. She’s chosen to stand apart from everyone, she’s quiet and her gaze doesn’t rise from the floor. She speaks with a soft voice when Alex approaches her. “I know, I have to let it go to the lab before I can take a look at it.” 

Alex’s shoulder slumps, empathetic to her sister’s plights.“Tell you what, Supergirl. I’ll make it a personal priority to get these to you as fast as we can.” 

“It’s a broken data crystal, a physical diary with the House of El coats of arms engraved on it and a model of a Kryptonian spaceship.” Supergirl supplies helpfully, handing over the case to her sister. “I’d like if it wouldn’t take over a decade before I’m made aware of it this time.”

 Alex smiles sadly. “I promise it’ll be done quick, okay?” she takes the case from Supergirl and keeps it firmly in her grip. 

Ask Miss Luthor to help with the portals, I think that might be a good idea. Put Winn on it too.” Supergirl takes a deep breath and walks the stairs. “You know where to find me.”

 

* * *

>  
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ I heard they recovered a lot of people. It’s all because of you. _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ Don’t sell yourself short, I’d be fighting bureaucrats if it wasn’t for you. _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ I’ll need a few days to recover fully.  _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ Want some company? _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ Maybe? I’ll text you when I’m ready to see people.  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action sequences are not my favorite things to write, unfortunately. 
> 
> This chapter was loosely based on the events of "Supergirl Lives" (Season 2, Episode 9)
> 
> In the show, Slaver's moon wasn't in the same solar system as Krypton, but it served my purpose better to make it revolve around Daxam!.


	8. Parental Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> J'onn delivers the Kryptonian relics to Kara and ends up spending time hearing his space-daughter's confidence, but not before encouraging Alex to bring Lena into the fold of DEO cooperators. Alex and Lena jumps forward into their own relationship with the approbation of an unexpected guest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot content warning: First Kiss for Alex.  
> Hot content warning: Kara wanting to kiss Maggie's stupidly cute face.
> 
> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

J’onn is walking down the halls of the DEO, a last little tour of the facility before going home for the night. He’s not entirely surprised to see that the lights are on in the labs with Alex pouring over what appears to be a really, really old and battered book. “Shouldn’t you be going home?” He asks, as he opens the door to check on her. 

 

Alex rubs her eyes, exhausted. “Well, I’m meeting someone in about an hour.” A look at the clock shows that it’s 2 AM. “And I promised Kara I’d do this quick. It’s honestly not much we can use.” She points to the three items on the table. 

 

“I think she’d understand if you finished that tomorrow.” J’onn approaches the table and peeks over the open book, noting the handwritten Kryptonese. He sets a hand on her back. ”What do you have so far?” 

 

“J’onn, I’m literally a page away from being done.” She points to the book. “This is a diary from a messenger of the House of El. I have no earthly clue what’s said in this, because I don’t read Kryptonese.” 

 

J’onn looks over the page. “This page describes a visit to a forest.” He smiles, putting his arm over her shoulder.

 

Alex looks at the small ship and taps a little switch on it and the small model ship starts hovering. “This is a toy Kryptonian spaceship, whatever we could learn from that we already did from Kara’s pod.” 

 

J’onn laughs and Alex joins in. “That’s amazing.”He pushes the button and the toy makes a landing.

 

Alex then picks up the crystal. “This is a data crystal and it’s not working. It’s not physically damaged, it’s just not activating.” 

 

“Alright, If she’s willing to warn us if there’s anything in the diary that could be of use, I think you can get this to her.” J’onn rubs Alex’s back.

 

“Well, I got someone I’m meeting, do you think you could get it to her?” Alex blushes deeply. “I think she could use a bit of space dad advice.” 

 

J’onn gives Alex a side hug, smiling at her. “Who are you meeting this late in the night?” 

 

Alex turns a shade of red that J’onn hasn’t seen anywhere and she rests her head on his shoulder. “I’m seeing Lena Luthor” Before J’onn can say anything, Alex adds. “Kara already knows.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m also going to mention we’d appreciate her help with the portal tech.”

 

J’onn doesn’t look surprised and pats Alex on the back. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out.” 

 

“How long have you known?” She asks, breathing a sigh of relief.

 

“A few months.” He smiles and starts gathering the items on the table. “I’ll get them to Kara, I think you should go see Miss Luthor and carry our offer at the same time. Dismissed Agent Danvers.”  

 

“Alright, Director Henshaw.” Alex leaves the D.E.O. shortly after.

 

* * *

 

 

Kara isn’t sleeping yet, she’s just laid out on her couch with an empty carton of ice cream next to her, she’s not really watching the movie on her TV. She’s looking at it and hearing the somewhat familiar lines. She’s casually scrolling at her phone, her thumb hovers above the call button for Maggie, but she decides against it.  

 

She nearly drops the phone, when J’onn knocks on the door. She knows it’s him, only one look with her X-ray vision. Kara smiles, seeing the little floating spaceship toy next to him. She opens the door. “How late did Alex work on it?” 

 

“Too late, but she had a meeting with a certain Miss Luthor afterward.” J’onn says, walking in with a suitcase in hand, the little spaceship follows. He’s in a leather jacket and jeans. 

 

Kara smiles bright at the mention of Lena and her sister, she closes the door behind him and takes a deep breath. “Thanks for… letting me have these things so fast. I… It’s probably the last things we’ll ever find.” 

 

J’onn turns around, after setting everything down on the coffee table, next to the ice cream and he stands there, watching her, as if expecting Kara to say more. 

 

Kara’s eyes water and her tears spill almost immediately. “I just want to know how I’m supposed to be a good Kryptonian,  a good person to my people. I have so many questions on so many things and I can’t get answers anywhere.” 

 

J’onn takes a few steps closer to Kara and he places a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into his arms. He takes great pains to hide his own tears, just listening to the young woman, his ‘space daughter’, break down in his arms. 

 

“I don’t want the last daughter of Krypton to be a shame to her people, I don’t want to disappoint them.” The sound of her voice is muffled by her crying, by his chest, but he can feel the words in ways very few people can.

 

“Kara, why would you disappoint them? How could you disappoint them? You’ve saved this world! You’re among the best of your people.” He speaks, knowing his reassurance wouldn’t measure to her pain.

 

“I went to ask the hologram at the fortress and I had to watch and hear my father’s ghost tell me that gay couples were a work of fiction.” She wipes her eyes. 

 

If Alex’s orientation hadn’t come as a surprise to him, Kara’s hinting at her own certainly did. His eyes widen, but his arms tighten a little harder. Though, with the context now laid bare to him, it’s easy to guess who has earned Kara’s affection. “Is it Detective Sawyer?” 

 

Kara nods and takes a step back, wiping at her face, trying to erase any trace of her tears. “Each time I see her, I just want to grab her stupidly cute face and kiss it so much.” She makes a grabbing motion right in front of her. “And the moment she’s out of sight, everything feels so wrong.” 

 

“I’m not sure how much wisdom I can offer you on this, Kara.” He admits. “I can keep you company for a while? No one’s waiting for me.”

 

Kara smiles through her emotional conflict and she nods. “I’d appreciate that, but, I want to take you out to drink soon? Just the two of us? Plus maybe Maggie, because she hangs where I wanna go.” 

 

“Sure, I’d love to.” He goes to take a seat on the couch. “Join me, we can finish watching whatever’s on TV. Maybe I can think of something to say while we do that.” 

 

“Honestly J’onn, I’m not sure I know what I’d even want to hear.” She takes a seat next to him and stares at the Kryptonian journal. “I’m not even sure about myself, if this is permanent or real.” 

 

“Weren’t Kryptonian marriages all-important and rarely broken?” J’onn says, as he picks up the TV remote and starts the movie from where Kara left it.

 

“Yeah. I also can’t remember a single one which involved two women or two men.” She sinks into the couch, staring at the movie.

 

“You left when you were thirteen, Kara.” J’onn speaks softly, immediately he sees tears form in her eyes. “You remember what your family allowed you to see.”

 

Kara doesn’t add anything and struggles in vain against her own tears, pretending to watch the movie.

 

“I think my advice would be to treat your feelings towards the detective the same way as a traditional couple on Krypton would do.” J’onn speak softly, covering the soft muttering sound of the TV.

 

“I’m going to need time.” She grabs a few tissues, drying her tears and blowing her nose.

 

“Take as much as you need, me and Alex are going to be there when you figure it out.” 

 

* * *

  


It’s almost 3 AM when Alex makes it to the L-Corp CEO’s office. She’s wearing a leather jacket with jeans and heeled boots. She watches Lena work from the threshold of the door and smirks. “You promised me you’d be done working about half an hour ago.” 

 

Lena smiles, closing the file she’s working on. “I was passing the time while I waited for you.” The CEO stand up, smoothing down the skirt of her little black dress. “These projects are fascinating.” 

 

“Just like my hair is fascinating?” Alex teases her about the awkward compliment from a few days ago. She runs her fingers through it and she winks at Lena.

 

Lena clears her throat, suppressing an uneasy smile. “I think we should get to the reason why you’re here, Agent Danvers. You had a work-related proposition?”

 

Alex smiles brighter, the shade of red on Lena’s cheek is lovely, she takes a step closer, walking around the desk to stand right next to the CEO. “That can wait for a few minutes.” A soft, sultry flirting tone. 

 

“How unprofessional.” Lena protests weakly, her gaze dropping to her feet.

 

“Very unprofessional.” Alex run the tip of her finger over Lena’s forearm and the tone of the moment shifts. “There’s something between you and me, we both know it and I don’t want to pretend like it’s not there.”

 

Lena can only acquiesce silently, her head tilts toward Alex and finds rest on her shoulder.

 

It’s all the agent needs to speak again.

 

“I’ve...I’ve never done anything with a woman, I mean anything, this is new to me.” The flirtatious confidence of the agent is replaced with the soft vulnerability of her raw emotions. “I don’t have a lot of words for what I feel right now, I just want to feel it and let it happen and….” her voice fails her, she can’t seem to form any more words.

 

Heat blooms in Lena’s chest and the blush on her cheek expands to her neck and her chest. She looks up from Alex’s shoulders and sees the same heat and color reflected in the other woman’s body. “Alex, I don’t have time for a long courtship, I don’t have the patience for the little dance of will we, won’t we. I’m a woman of action.”

 

Alex takes a single step back from Lena, as if trying to size the woman up from a better angle, surprised by the words. 

 

Lena takes a step toward her, her hands on Alex’s forearm this time. “I really want to kiss you right now. We can figure everything out as it happens.” 

 

They kiss. It’s a little clumsy at first, as Lena almost falls off of her heels and Alex almost trips trying to catch her. The kiss grows passionate and hot, the two women hold each other flush against one another's bodies. As the kiss slowly nears its end, Lena’s back is pressed against the window of her balcony.

 

Lena is the first to break the kiss. “You’re bossy.” 

 

Alex grins. “You like it.” 

 

“Yeah yeah.” She slaps Alex’s shoulder, pouting. “You had a work proposal?” 

 

Alex laughs and kiss Lena’s cheek. ”I did.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Alright, so, let’s recap here.” Lena says with a bit of a theatrical wave of her hand. “You’re part of a secret government operation, specifically made to deal with extra-terrestrial menaces. Which, okay, I guess that makes sense.” She enumerates. “But you’re telling me that you have in your possession technology that makes teleporting, _to another planet,_ possible.” 

 

“I’m also telling you that Supergirl herself wants you to help us understand what to make of this piece of technology.” Alex reminds Lena, leaning against the side of her desk.

 

“Why me? Is that why you were flirting with me? So I’d jump at the chance to work on this?” Lena raises the concern in a humorous tone.

 

“You already work with Aliens, you have an Nth metal refinery, you know how to work with it. I can’t think of anyone else who could fit the bill.” She looks at the pile of paper they’d just gone over and signed. “I wasn’t flirting with you for work reasons, I’m flirting with you because I want to.” 

 

“I could tell you were having fun earlier.” Both women laugh and are about to exchange another kiss when the door to the office opens, revealing an older woman with soft brown hair, a stern look and a rather impressive fashion sense.

 

Lena’s eyes narrow at the intruder and she turns serious in the blink of an eye, her arms crossed over her chest and she stares at the woman. “What can I do for you, Mother?”

 

The change in tone is fascinating, Alex takes a step away from Lena, just observing the situation. Her eyes go from Lena’s mother and back to her daughter in turn, immediately recognizing how tense the relationship must be.

 

“I’m only visiting my daughter, Lena. It’s been a while since you’ve called me.” The smile is the most insincere one that Alex has seen in a long time and Lena isn’t buying it either, judging by the irritated eye roll. “Am I interrupting something important?” 

 

“You are, but that’s never stopped you before, now has it?” Lena sits on the edge of her desk and watches her mother carefully, she’s trying to give a more relaxed vibe but completely fails to convince either of them.  

 

Lillian stops ignoring Alex at last and offers a handshake. “A pleasure to meet you, I’m Lillian Luthor.” As Alex accepts the handshake, the older woman’s gaze shifts an inch to the right. “I’m sure you two will make quite a pair. Just clean the lipstick marks will you?” 

 

“I’m Alex Danvers, good to meet you too, Miss Luthor.” Alex blinks and grabs a tissue from the box on Lena’s desk, wiping the lipstick away in an awkward, quiet moment.

 

“Well that’s something new and refreshing from you.” Lena says, obviously thrown off by the uncharacteristic show of support from the older woman. “But, will you get to the point? I’m pretty sure you’re not here to embarrass me to Alex with cute childhood stories.” 

 

“I’m not, but I also did not think you’d have company. I need your help and some resources from L-Corp to finish a scientific endeavor of mine.” Lillian walks to her daughter again. “You know what it’s for? Of course you do.” 

 

“I’m sorry I already signed one big work contract tonight and I doubt your particular offers would stimulate me the same way.” Lena realizes it too late, only when her mother makes a little disgusted grunt at the same time Alex stifles a laugh. “That came out wrong.” 

 

“You should keep your options open Lena, you never know.” Lillian roll her eyes, mildly amused by her slip-up. “Well, since you won’t work with me, I’ll leave you to it. You know where to find me if you change your mind.” She throws a side-glance to Alex before turning to leave.

 

“No I don’t, you keep changing numbers and address.” Lena walks Lillian to the door of her office. “Thanks for dropping by, that was actually nicer than most interactions I’ve had with you.” 

 

Lillian smiles, turning around to see Alex and Lena at the same time, once she’s crossed the door’s threshold. “The Danvers make for such great partners, I’d be a fool not to approve.” The smile she gives is positively mocking in nature and Lena pushes her out the door of her office.

 

Alex gasps making an instant connection, she grabs the stapler from Lena’s desk and barrels out of Lena’s office just in time to see the elevator door closes. As it goes down, Alex shoulders the door open when she finds it locked and she starts running down the stairs of the building, faster than she should, she barely hears Lena shout after her. 

 

She makes it to the ground floor and catches the elevator door closing down, Alex runs out by the front door and only sees the tail light of a limousine in the distance, too far for it to be Lillian’s she guesses. “Fuck!” Alex sits down in the steps leading up to the building. She almost startles when Lena joins her. 

 

“So, what am I missing here?” Lena sits next to Alex, wearing a long magenta coat. “And why did you grab the stapler?”

 

“Your mother being part of an anti-alien terrorist group named Cadmus. Which holds my father captive.” Alex pokes at her phone screen and there’s a quick reply to her text. “Because I wanted to have something to throw if I needed to defend myself.” 

 

Lena sighs. “Every time I give her a chance…” she sits beside Alex and keeps a bit of distance. “Is there any way I can help?” 

 

“This makes thing complicated.” Alex leans back against the steps and shut her eyes, trying to avoid giving away that she’s tearing up.

 

“We’re smart enough to figure it out.” She take Alex’s hand between hers and kisses her knuckles in turn.

 

“I need a drink.” Alex says and Lena nods.

 

“I have champagne and wine at home, come over.” Lena stands up, pulling Alex with her.”I always need an extra drink when _Mother_ is involved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possibly implied: Lillian/Jeremiah (gagging noise)
> 
> Edited for Formatting reasons (Also fixed a typo & removed a "planning line" that stuck in there)


	9. Bullpen Pining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie pines for Kara for two (not so) straight days. Then gets initiated into a particularly important secret about one of the Superfriend. Appearance by M'gann and one of Maggie's science division colleague.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I've been working on a lot of different writing projects lately: A Fic exchange for Supercat christmas, so keep an eye out for that on the 31st of July. A Dansen fic week (which start Sunday the 28th of July) and there's a Month-long writing challenge for August I'm wanting to take a look at. So update on this fic may be slow for August (there will be at least 1 during the month)
> 
> Also! Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

The paperwork is filled and filed, stacked high at the left end of her desk, her report is written and annotated with several, terse comments about a high ranking officer of the law trying to hinder the investigation. The scattered remains of a microwave dinner litters the right side of her desk, along with a steaming hot mug of black coffee. The last few of her colleagues in the science division are leaving for the night, making way for the night shift to come in. 

She allows herself a peek at her cellphone, she notes quite a few notifications from texts she had received. One from the real estate girl, what was her name again? Two texts from Kara and one she receives as she holds her phone, it’s from a friendly colleague. “Yes Gibson, that’s how I catch all of the bad people, by staring longingly at all the girls that talk to me on my phone.”  

“I knew that was your secret Sawyer.” He deadpans, sitting down on the edge of her desk. Gibson is a rotund man with a questionable fashion sense, a mustache and a balding spot amidst his greying hair. He sets his own phone back into his pocket. “Why are you staying so late this time?” 

“I hate doing paperwork at home, plus I wanted to have the chance to catch the captain if I could. Piece of my mind to give him.” Maggie smiles a bit dryly. “And maybe I’m trying to avoid thinking about a girl too much.” Her smile softens as she makes the admission.

“Oh yeah, that friend of the commissioner meddling again?” He recalls, scratching his chin. “I think he’s aware of it, I heard him shout from his office today.” He points to the closed door of their captain’s office. “Pining at work, Sawyer? I thought you were a professional.” 

The shade of red that Maggie turns, the heat she feels in her cheeks and her chest, it’s too much and she looks away from the other detective and fails to hide her smile completely. “Shut up, I had a good reason to think about her at work. She’s the reporter.”

Gibson’s smile goes from teasing to a wider, deeper smile, he speaks softer too. “I already like this one better than every other one you told me about.” He stands up from her desk, walking around it to pull a chair from a nearby pile, sitting next to her.

Maggie sets her phone face down on her desk and grabs her coffee. She sips it quietly whilst leaning back lazily in her chair, the familiar creaking sends a tingle down her neck, and causes a shiver in her spine. “Really? I barely told you anything about her.”

“I didn’t become a detective by filling up bullshit quotas in traffic tickets, Sawyer.” He playfully scolds. “Normally, what you do when you have a girl you like is that you talk about her like the boys would, you know, just to fit in and that’s how you started with her too.” 

“Oh God, please stop me if I ever do that again.” One hand releases the mug, rubbing her fingers over her forehead as she tries not to remember exactly what Gibson means. “What gave me away?” 

“Well, after that one time, you only brought her up as the reporter girl or her first name.” He enumerates. “You almost cried when you got her text after that raid on the kidnapper with the feds.” He points a finger accusingly toward Maggie. “I think she caught you in her nets and you’re in too deep to climb out.”

“Hey so, fuck you.” Maggie says softly, setting down her mug on the desk, she sniffles and picks up a tissue from her almost empty box, blowing her nose immediately. “You didn’t have to say any of this like that.” Her phone vibrates with a text notification and then another.

 

> **_Kara:_ ** _ Hey, saw this and thought of you! [Picture of a corgi/german shepherd mix] _
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ Sorry I’ve been quiet. I have something with a friend tomorrow night, but i’m free for the weekend and monday evening too! _
> 
>  

“No, I didn’t.” He concedes with the smuggest smile he can muster. “I just like how you act since you’ve met her and I thought I should say something.” He stands back up, grabbing his vest from the hook near his desk. 

“Thanks for being an ass.” Maggie says with a laugh, trying really hard to pretend like she doesn’t have tears on her cheek. “And she’s not my girlfriend yet, Gibson.” 

“Yeah, I’m going to put down a full fifty buck on you two getting together eventually.” He says, putting on the vest. “It’s another thing I like about her, whatever she’s doing, she’s making you take your time. It’s good for you.” 

“She’s very new at the gay thing. That’s what she’s doing.” Maggie explains, abandoning any pretense that she could work longer, she starts shutting down her computer and close her files, sorting them quickly. 

“Didn’t stop you with that Real Estate lady, Erin was it?” Gibson says, trying to confirm the name at the same time. 

“It didn’t, but she wasn’t wanting it to go slow, she wanted to dive in before getting cold feet.” Maggie scratches the back of her head. “It was also, only one date. I told her I didn’t want to continue.” 

“I wonder why.” Gibson asks, as if he already knows the answer.

“Because she talked about boring stuff through our date and complained about how my schedule looks like.” Maggie shrugs. 

“And?” Gibson smiles, urging her to continue the list of reasons.

“And I met Kara.” Maggie admits with a roll of her eyes. “Why do you have to make me say these things out loud!” 

“Because I’m an insufferable dick, that’s why.” he waves at her, leaving the precinct a moment later. 

“That you are.” Maggie exhales loudly, shaking her head as her attention shift back to her phone. 

 

> **_You:_ ** _ I’d love to do something. Movies?  _
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ That’d be fun! I’m in! Let’s try Saturday evening! _
> 
> **_You:_ ** _ Great!  _

 

* * *

 

The next day is different, slower and calmer, with a lot more time between calls. Her meeting with the Science Division captain, which she dreaded for days now, goes smoothly and she comes out of his office with the reassurance that her captain is personally interfering with the meddling from the higher up. 

Gibson doesn’t tease her as much, except when he catches her smiling a little too much at the cute puppy videos that Kara keeps sending her. 

The rest of the boys in the Science division, all three of them, spend the day in training. It’s a new course that the division offers to any officers that wants to learn how to deal with the realities of Aliens living in their cities. 

As it happens sometimes, Nothing makes Maggie to rush to a crime scene and there’s no immediate crisis that requires she stays at work late. She clocks out at around six and leaves even before Gibson.

With the whole evening free of any obligations, she finds her mind wandering a little toward Kara and she decides that, since today is friday, she’ll go celebrate her crush and maybe share a drink with M’gann at the bar, maybe talk to Darla and make sure they’re on good terms too.

Maggie makes a quick stop at home, putting on something a little more casual than the suit she decided on this morning: Blue jeans, that white button up and her heeled boots. She makes it to the bar around 8PM. 

Darla doesn’t work today and M’gann starts her shift in about an hour. Maggie decides to claim a booth in the back for herself and grabs herself a peach mojito with a pile of fries. She has a view on the entrance and on most table, a good place to spot M’gann when she comes in. 

Maggie doesn’t really know when the change happens, but at some point during the hour before her friend shows up for her shift, she starts to hope that Kara will be the next person to come in instead. When the realization hits, she exhales loudly.  “Fuck, I got it bad.” She sips her mojito, settling into her seat.

She daydreams, remembering the game of pool she had with Kara, reminiscing about her pout and groaning at how much she’d want to kiss it better if she ever was to see it again. Maggie doesn’t notice M’gann entering the establishment, only noting her presence when a second round of Mojito lands at her table. 

Maggie’s about to stand up and go to the bar, to pay for her drinks, to chat with M’gann a bit. As she finishes grabbing her wallet out of her leather jacket, she catches someone new entering the bar from the corner of her eyes, one quick glance that way and it feels like a punch in the stomach. 

Kara just entered the bar, flanked with the DEO director. Of all the people she could’ve brought here, this is the worst possible one. She quickly slides out of her booth, anger slowly boiling at the pit of her stomach, intent on giving each of them a piece of her mind.

Kara leans in closer to the DEO director, whispering something into his ear and pats his back.

Before Maggie can even move past one of the smaller tables, before Kara even notice her, the man she knows as Hank Henshaw, director of the D.E.O. transforms into a green-skinned alien.

M’gann drops the glass she was cleaning on the counter, the whole bar startles at the noise and now their attention shift toward the green man in the room. She takes a step away and clumsily catch herself on the counter.

“I can transform back, it’s no problem…” He seems frozen in place, staring at the woman in front of him, frowning as if making some form of effort.

Kara is staring at M’gann, eyes wide, curious at the reaction J’onn provokes in her.

“No- no It’s okay, I…” M’gann looks around frantically, eyes crossing over Maggie and a few other staff members. “Can I get you anything?” She leans on the bar, her strength failing her momentarily.

“Do I know you?” The green martian asks, taking one step closer to the counter, a carefully calculated gesture.  

Maggie stares at the events, eyes wide and she stays out of it for now, the anger knocked out of her in an instant. 

M’gann takes a deep, deep breath and as she exhales, a red filter of light flashes over her body as she transform too. “My name is M’gann M’orzz. I’m the Last Daughter of Mars.” 

J’onn is left speechless and wide eyed. He almost stumbles back, but manages to control the shock long enough to sit down, hard, onto the barstool in front of M’gann.

M’gann remains still for a long moment, before she decides to sit down on the one chair they keep behind the bar. The silence between them remains, like an oasis of quietude in the slowly returning buzz of the crowd.

Kara covers her mouth and tears flow, dropping from her cheek and onto her shoes, but it’s easy to see the smile from behind the hands. 

As the bar resume a normal level of activity, Maggie approaches Kara slowly, she set her hand over her forearm, carefully. “Are you going to be okay, Kara?” Her other hand offers a tissue pack.

Kara blinks and more tears spill down her cheeks, after drying them a bit and blowing her nose, she finally finds it in herself to talk. “I’ll be okay, thanks for the tissues.” 

“So, I think our friends are going to be busy for a bit. Want to try for a rematch at pool while they sort things out? I’m already one mojito in, so you have the advantage this time.” Maggie teases, her attention switching between the two Martians and Kara. 

“Did you know about her?” Kara asks, moving closer to the pool table and picking the cue stick up. 

“I knew she wasn’t human, but, I typically don’t push for details.” Maggie begins setting the game up, as she finishes it, she almost catches Kara staring at her. Maybe the Mojito won’t be such a handicap after all. 

Kara smiles. “Before we start, I… I wanted to ask you something.” She clears her throat, nervously. “You asked me what I wanted out of this and I feel bad that I didn’t ask back.”  


There’s a moment of silence, as she considers the answer. “Give me until we see the movie and I’ll answer you then, okay?” Maggie leans against the pool table. “Your turn to start, Kara.” 

Maggie wins easily, as Kara is entirely too easy to distract. “And you don’t even owe me any drinks this time.” Maggie winks.

Kara doesn’t even pout, she gives Maggie a shy smile. “I know what you did. I’ll have my sister wreck you at pool for it.” 

“She’s welcome to try.” Maggie set the cue sticks back on the rack, smiling as she noticed the Martians are back to their human shape. “Want to go share a drink with them?”

Kara nods. “Yes, let’s do that.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter will feature Danvers Sister & a rather important discussion about Jeremiah.
> 
> P-S: Real estate Lady (Erin) is my headcanon for the girlfriend that dumps Maggie and calls her a borderline psyhopath on the show before she gets with Alex.


	10. Family, love & regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Kara have a conversation about their respective lives and face the troubling reality of Jeremiah resurfacing. Alex meet with Maggie to avenge her sister's losses at pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my usual beta reader Gwatson (idk how to link on mobile)

Supergirl comes through the window of her sister’s apartment, she immediately goes into the bathroom upon arrival, then comes out in her day’s outfit: White button up with a pair of black pants and shiny, black flats. “So, I have a lot to catch you up on!” Kara claps her hands together and bounces closer to her sister, hugging her. 

 

Alex welcomes her sister’s hug and holds it for a while too. “I have a thing or two myself.” she forces a smile, pushing down the gnawing worries beneath the surface. “Why don’t you start ?” Alex tugs down on her orange t-shirt and takes a seat on the couch, laying her legs on her sister’s lap when she joins her. 

 

“Well, remember the Alien bar I told you about? The one Maggie took me to?” Kara says, her voice trembling with joy and her smile bright. 

 

“Yeah, I remember!” Alex throws a cushion at Kara and hits her in the face. “What about it?” 

 

“I took J’onn out to drink there last night.” Kara takes a deep breath. Her smile brightening a touch and she almost mumbles when she speaks again. “He felt safe enough to turn into his martian shape.” Kara fiddles with the cushion, picking strands off. “The barmaid turned out to be a Green Martian in hiding too.”  

 

Alex actually sits back up, eyes wide, her troubles forgotten, buried beneath the surprise.“What!? Are you for real!? Is that why he wasn’t at the DEO today?” 

 

“I think him and M’gann might have spent the day talking or something!” She takes her phone out and shows a picture of the two at the bar. “I think I spent half the evening crying for them.” even now, Kara has to wipe a tear off of her cheek. “Maggie was there too, so she knows about J’onn.”

 

“Well now I have to meet her! Do you think it’d be okay for me to go there?” Alex asks, curious. 

 

“I didn’t come out as an alien there yet so, I couldn’t bring you there without seriously annoying the doorman, but Maggie could.” she smiles “Which leads me to my other thing, I’m going to the movies with her Saturday and I would like to ask something from you, about her.” 

 

Alex nods and encourages her sister to speak with a quick gesture of her hand. 

 

“Could you try to be Maggie’s friend? Or get to know her?” Kara shrinks a little from the curious look she gets from Alex. “J’onn advised me to treat this like a Kryptonian would treat a relationship.” she looks at Alex, from behind the cushion now. “Which mean, I’d like to know what you think of Maggie.” 

 

Alex nods at the request. “Of course, do I need to be subtle about it or can I just interrogate the shit out of her?” she gives Kara a dangerous smile. 

 

“Be subtle and gentle, except when she challenges you at pool, she trounced me both times we played.” Kara pouts

 

“I’ll avenge your honor, Kara.” Alex laugh there but her smile vanishes behind her own surging worries. “I kissed Lena--” 

 

Kara grabs her sister in a firm, loving hug and lets out a gleeful sound. “Oh my god! I’m so happy! Are you two officially together now!?”  

 

“We are but, there’s been a few problems.” She takes a deep breath. “Which you should definitely be aware of.” 

 

Kara tilts her head to the side. “Alright, who do I need to beat up?” She slams her fist into her palm, exaggerating the gesture.

 

“Well, it’s more complicated than that.” Alex winces, pulling slightly away from Kara’s hug. “Her mother visited and she is very much in the Lex camp of things and she’s part of Cadmus.” She announces a bit dryly. 

 

“How do you know she’s part of Cadmus, did she just assume you were going to be okay with that?” Kara frowns and curls in on herself, resting her chin on her knee. 

 

“The reason I know why she’s part of Cadmus is because… she mentioned dad.” Alex scratches the back of her head, biting the inside of her cheek. “Said he was a great partner and that it was why she approved of me and Lena.” 

 

Kara blinks at the barrage of unwelcome news and she takes a deep, weary sigh and pulls Alex into a warm hug. “Do you want me to tell Lena about my secret?” 

 

“What would that do?” Alex mumbles, pressing her face against Kara’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just don’t see what’s this about?”

 

“If Jeremiah’s working with her mother and Cadmus, they probably already know who I am. They could use the secret to ruin everything.” Kara explains her throughs, a strange weight form over her chest, making her breathing laborious. 

 

“Dad wouldn’t do that.” Alex rebuff, a frown and smack against Kara’s shoulder. “Why would you think that!? He’d never put you in danger like that!” 

 

Kara close her eyes, refusing to look at her sister. “Because it’s my fault he’s in there in the first place. He probably hates me.” 

 

Alex’s expression freezes for just a moment before she pulls her sister against her, wordless.

 

* * *

 

 

The bar is definitely not what Alex expected, though in hindsight, a group of people who aren’t yet completely legal in an area wouldn’t be able to afford a ritzy establishment.  She finds the detective right next to the door, waiting for her with a beautiful, sharp laugh in her voice. Something that brings a warmth in her chest.  _ I’m so gay _ , she thinks.

 

Maggie’s waiting next to the door, leather jacket, jeans and boots. “Agent Danvers.” she greets with a pat on the shoulder. She turns around, give the password and leads the elder sister inside.

 

“Miss Detective.” Alex return the teasing, playfully shoving at her shoulder. She gets shoved back almost immediately. It’s all playful, of course, but Alex spends a moment thinking about what could’ve been, under different circumstances. “Before we proceed for drinks…” she points to the pool table with a meaningful grin.

 

“Oh, so your sister put you up to this just so she could get revenge through you?” Maggie stops at the pool table, she picks a stick and smirk, looking at Alex. “Or is it for your personal enjoyment?” 

 

“Kara definitely put me up to this.” Alex picks her own stick and watches on as what seems to be her newest friend sets up the table. “Amongst other things.” 

 

“Huh, uh, so I’m getting the shovel talk then?” Maggie raises her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side. A silent, unknown question writing itself in her expression. 

 

“No, not really anyway.” Alex says, stepping closer to the table and lining the opening shot with a calm focus. “More like, I want to know you better and I have things to say too.” she takes the shot and makes for a rather strong opening. 

 

Maggie watches the pool table more than Alex, focusing on the game and the play she’s making. “Well, that’s Ominous.” 

 

Alex sinks two more before missing one and ceding her spot at the table. “I wouldn’t worry too much.” she watches the detective takes her first shot, sinking one, then another. “Not bad, I’m actually going to have to try.” 

 

“Yeah, Kara’s pretty easy to beat at this, she’s too nervous and strikes either too hard or too soft. No middle ground.” Maggie says, letting Alex take her turn when she misses her shot. “I think she plays to humor me more than because she likes the game.” 

 

“Do you have to drag her to the table to play?” Alex asks, studying the table before sinking one with a loud clacking sound.

 

“Nah, she’s usually pretty bouncy when we start.” Maggie groans in frustration and Alex sinks one more. “Damn, pulling out the big sister guns already?” 

 

“If you don’t have to insist or drag her somewhere, she’s not humoring you. If she’s bouncy, she’s actually enjoying it.” Alex explains and grins. “Or she’s nervous, but there’s obvious differences.” she shrugs and sink the rest of hers balls and grins victoriously. “No, but I am actually good at this and you made me try, so.” she sticks out her tongue at Maggie. 

 

“It’s okay, not like I bet money or drinks on the game or anything this time.” Maggie teases and set the cue back on the wall. “What about we get that talk you wanted to have out of the way and then maybe make things interesting on the battlefield.” she slaps the edge of the pool table. 

 

“Fine! Let’s grab the empty booth over there.” Alex makes her way to it, as Maggie walks by the counter to grab them drinks, beers. 

 

* * *

 

 

Two beers later and a strangely satisfying silence between them has settled, their attention slowly fading away from the various alien patrons and back to their oncoming conversation. Alex gives a quick glance to her phone, then setting the whole thing to DND mode. Maggie just shut hers off. 

 

“In all seriousness, I’m not here to do a shovel talk.” Alex speaks first, setting her drinks aside. “In fact, I kind of wanted to thank you.” her voice grows a specific shade of soft, her eyes fixating on her own hands. 

 

“You’re welcome, but, I’m curious as to why though.” Maggie speaks teasingly, shrugging off her jacket at last, to reveal a white button up. 

 

“I wouldn’t have figured myself out and wouldn’t have a girlfriend if not for you.” Alex says with a little blush settling on her cheek. “Because when Kara came to me and told me about all this, I just flicked the switch on. So, thank you.” 

 

“Happy to provide you with the lightbulb moment.” Maggie smiles, brightly, to Alex and reach across the table to tap on her forearm. “Is that the only thing though?” 

 

“No, no. I’m curious about you, about who you are and where you’re from and all that.” Alex leans forward. “My sister kind of wanted a second opinion, just in case.” 

 

Maggie laughs lightly and leans back in the seat, enjoying the moment. “I’m a gay detective in the NCPD Science Division. Originally from Blue Springs, Nebraska. I had a short stint in Gotham but decided to move to sunnier shores.” 

 

“Oh, Gotham. Not a fun place to be as a police officer.” Alex winces a little. 

 

“No, it wasn’t fun, but I did earn a few accolades there that served me here.” Maggie smiles and shrugs. 

 

“Do you have any family?” Alex asks, using her thumb to pick the label from her bottle. 

 

Maggie stiffens and clears her throat. “Like a lot of things in my life, that’s… complicated.” 

 

Alex nods. “Yeah I get that, family gets complicated fast. I won’t prod further on it.” she stops picking at the label. 

 

“Thanks, It’s really a weird sore spot for me. And kind of the reason I hate valentine’s day.” Maggie admits. 

 

“Hmm, are you the kind of grump who hates all of the holidays?” Alex teases. 

 

“Kind of yeah. I try to make an effort for partners sometimes, but some are just too much. Do you think it could be a problem?” Maggie asks, half-frowns, maybe a bit of worry seeping into her expression.

 

“If you give her a heads up and maybe explain a bit, I don’t see it being a major problem.” Alex crosses her legs. “Well, you might run into problems with the winter holidays and your birthday though. Those are actively important things for her.” 

 

Maggie laughs a little bit. “Alright, I’ll be sure to have that conversation with her, but thank you for the heads up, Alex, that’s very much appreciated.”

 

“Do you celebrate pride at all?” Alex asks, curiosity brought by the current topic. 

 

“I’m not really a rainbow kind of girl, Danvers. And since I’m a cop, not very welcome at Pride.” Maggie explains, glancing towards the bar for a moment. 

 

Alex on the other hand seems pretty confused by the answer. “I’m not sure I see the link between these things.” 

 

“Right, new gay.” Maggie snaps her fingers. “Pride was started as a riot against police brutality and in general, police department targeting minorities. So they’re not generally welcome to participate in pride. I happen to not feel the need to participate in the festivities, so it works out for me.” 

 

Alex nods. “Okay, that make sense. Any particular reason?” 

 

“I’ve had the luxury of being aware of my own orientation from a pretty young age. I’ve been out for more than half my life, it’s never really been a secret.” Maggie explains and shrugs. “So I don’t feel the need to throw confetti and be loud about it.” She smiles. “I understand why they do, I can even appreciate it a bit.” 

 

“Did you pick the job because of that?” Alex tilts her head to the side. 

 

“No, well, not entirely. Let’s say I’m following in my father’s footsteps.”  She takes a deep, deep breath and closes her eyes. “You know that police work isn’t exactly always about the right thing, right?” 

 

“I work for a black ops, I’m aware.” Alex whispers, regretting the lack of beer in the nearest bottle.

 

“Well, as much as I don’t really like the political part of the whole deal, until there’s a good alternative ready to go?” Maggie taps her fingers on the table. “It’s me, a gay mexican girl taking the spot. Instead of a dudebro with an iron cross tattoo. So I’ll keep my hands on it as long as I can, even if it means I can’t dress up in rainbows.” 

 

Alex smiles. “Huh, now I think I can see why J’onn decided to keep the job.” she leans back into her seat. 

 

“Is that Henshaw?” Maggie asks. 

 

“Yep, that’s who I’m talking about. He’s sort of a surrogate father figure to me and Kara, sometimes.” Alex admits. “He gives good advice.” 

 

“Speaking of which, M’gann comes in, in about an hour, if you want to meet her. In the meantime, think I can try to beat you again at pool?” Maggie smiles. 

 

“And take money out of your pocket with which you could treat my sister? No, I don’t think so.” Alex teases and gets a middle finger raised her way in response. “Alright, alright, if you’re going to be rude about it.” 

  
  



	11. You're welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara has a full blown panic attack just as her planned movie night with Maggie looms closer, she struggles to be functional and find an outfit before the detective shows up at her doorstep to pick her up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

Attempting to book a meeting with the Luthor heiress is a breeze in itself, finding a time in a schedule that allows enough time for something as big as revealing her secret however takes a little convincing and a promise made to Jess to feed Lena. This results in a meeting being scheduled for the next day, Sunday.

After that, Saturday is near-eventless, her work is done and complete, Supergirl is barely needed throughout the day and the movie night with Maggie is looming ever closer. She’s stuck in her apartment, staring at her clothes rack, trying to think of an outfit before the detective picks her up. Somehow, her grey sweats don’t feel like an appropriate choice for a movie night with the girl you’re into. 

Kara looks over the various choices she has, dropping a few choices on top of her bed. A little black dress, a red one too. She picks up a pair of jeans and her leather jacket too, smiling at this choice. “Seems a little too obvious.” she puts it in the choice pile nonetheless. She decides an idea might come to her whilst she’s in the shower. 

She lets the hot water run out, letting the heat sink into her skin and her soul and yet, there’s still this unease clinging to her. It grows ever closer to her heart as the minutes tick by towards Maggie’s arrival. It makes a knot out of her stomach as the water turns cold. For just a flash of a moment, it feels like she’s back in her pod, trapped in a void with only grief to nourish her soul. Except now there’s also the looming cloud of disapproval raining on her. 

The knock on her door drags her back to reality. Kara uses her super-speed to dry herself and get to the door in record time. She’s still in her grey sweat with her damp hair. She doesn’t even peek through the walls before opening the door. It’s Maggie, of course, in her leather and denim glory. “Hey! Sorry I was in the shower!”  

“It’s okay, I got here a little early.” She steps inside when Kara quietly invites her. Her first glimpse into Kara’s universe brings a little smile, revealing her dimples. “It was a pretty slow day today. I didn’t get too much overflow work. Didn’t expect it today of all days.” 

 The universe, it seems, has decided to grant her a little respite from the cold void settling over her. The sight of Maggie’s smile, the sound of her voice and the warmth that now blooms in her chest eclipse a lot of the weight on her chest. She welcomes her with a hug and the heat feels so welcoming. 

"Oof, you’re cold. Are you okay?” Maggie asks, upon the first few seconds of the hug. 

Kara’s quiet, internally struggling with the answer. She offers a heavy sigh, even as she clings to Maggie a little tighter than she should. 

“Oof, rough day?” Maggie’s voice strain under the pressure of Kara’s lingering, powerful hug. “Wanna talk about any of it?” 

“Maybe? Help me pick out an outfit for tonight too? I’ve been struggling all day with that.” Kara finally releases the hug and shivers at the loss of warmth. “I don’t think this is exactly appropriate for a movie theater.”  

“Sure, I can help you pick out your gayest self.” Maggie shrugs off her leather jacket and sets it on the back of a chair. “Show me what you got.” 

Kara nods and goes into her room, hiding the Super suit into her wardrobe quickly before Maggie can see it. “I have this pile here that I thought might work.” 

Maggie smiles at the art supplies, at the selection of decor and the purposeful messy side of the bedroom when she steps past the curtains to Kara’s bedroom. Her gaze lingers on the pile and she runs her fingers over her chin. “Hmm, I think I have an idea.” 

“Really? So fast?” Kara asks incredulously. 

“Yep.” Maggie puffs her chest out, proud of the comment. “Do you have little work boots?” 

“I do! They’re a bit worn out.” Kara reaches for the rack inside of her closet and holds up a pair of small boots. Dark brown, almost flats. 

Maggie grabs the rest of her ideas and drops them in Kara’s arm. “Put this on!” she grins, stepping out of the bedroom, she leans against the counter in the kitchen, looking over to the bedroom, waiting for Kara. 

Kara comes out, a few minutes later, wearing her red dress, leather jacket over her shoulders, her hair loose and clutching a tiny purse in her hands, feet stomping in slightly oversized boots for the outfit. She gives a little playful twirl while Maggie smiles so brightly, so full, that her eyes shine and her dimples deepens and all she can think about is kissing her right there.  Kara sits down on the couch, hiding her face in her hands.  

“Oh boy.” Maggie walks closer, slowly and places her hand on her shoulder. “Is everything alright?” 

“This must be such a pain in the ass for you, I can’t even imagine.” Kara leans back and slumps on the couch, fighting against tears.

“No, really not.” Maggie sits on the other end of the couch, tense but still smiling. “I like this ‘taking my time’ thing you’re doing, it’s helping me out.” Maggie gives a little look toward the nearest clock and back to Kara. “We can go to a later showing at the movies, I don’t mind. If you want to talk that is? It’s what friends do.” 

“Did Alex tell you I’m adopted?” Kara asks. 

“She didn’t mention that, no.” Maggie shakes her head. 

“My parents died in an explosion and the Danvers took me in.” Kara makes a little gesture of her hand to indicate she’s accelerating the story to a relevant point. “And all my life I’ve tried to ... make sure they’d be proud of me.” she clears her throat. “But, the more I learn about them… the more I realize they probably wouldn’t approve of …” Kara gestures between her and Maggie.

“Oof.” Maggie reaches out, tentatively, taking Kara’s hand between hers. “That’s a spot no one wants to be in, I’m sorry.” she squeezes the arm. “Conflicting feelings about your parents are never easy to find your way through.” 

“It’s so hard, because when I’m alone. It creeps in slowly and builds up and builds up.” She points to Maggie and pokes her nose. “Then you show up and…” Kara takes a deep breath “And I feel so …” 

“Gay?” Maggie helpfully supplies, with an empathic shit eating grin. 

“Gay.” Kara confirms and her eyes waters considerably.  “I haven’t been able to say that word about me until now.”  

Maggie smiles. “You’re not alone, Kara. Not in having disapproving parents, not in being gay or anything.” 

“Thank you, that’s very comforting.” Kara smiles through the turmoil “How were yours? I haven’t spoken about this to my adopted mom yet. Kinda waiting for thanksgiving.” 

Maggie puts on a face, but it falls down pretty quickly in the face of the rather genuine moment they’re having. “Did Alex tell you about what we talked about?”

“Yes, I got the full report.” Kara dabs her face with a tissue, trying to dry her tears. 

“I asked a girl out for Valentine’s day when I was 14. I got kicked out of my house.” Maggie clears her throat. “Lived with an aunt after that.” 

Kara looks to Maggie and she offers a fierce smile, even though her heart ache. “Your aunt sounds awesome.”

Maggie laughs with a bit of tears in her eyes. “That’s the best reaction to that story I’ve had so far.” 

As the conversation dies down, Kara feels her heart squeezes with the growing silence. “Movies?” she points to the door.

“Yeah that’s enough emotions for the moment.” Maggie jokes, standing up, helping Kara up from the couch and dragging her backwards to the door. 

 

* * *

The movie theater is crowded heavily, with children going to see Moana and there’s also a sizeable alien presence to view the Arrival movie. The moment they cross the door, the atmosphere is much like that of the alien bar, but taken up a little up in class and the interactions between the children and aliens are particularly endearing.  Both Maggie and Kara look at each other with surprise and an intense sense of glee. 

As Kara holds her ticket in her hands, she already knows she’ll be framing this one. So she keeps herself from fiddling with it so much. “Thank you, Maggie.” 

“What for? The popcorn?” Maggie seems mildly confused, having been distracted by the crowd as they slowly head toward their particular theater room.  

“Just, helping me see all of this.” Kara waves around her and finish the gesture by landing it on her heart. 

“I thought we said no more emotions.” Maggie teases and bump against her side. “Also, you got to give me gym pointers, you are made out of stone.” 

Kara giggles. “Ask my sister, she’s the one who figured it out!” 

They’re let into the theater and they find nice seats at the back, next to each other and they watch people take their seats, having a conversation before the lights dim. Maggie taps Kara’s arm to draw her attention, toward a Phorian man snuggling up with a clearly human woman. 

Kara almost says it right there, that she’s happy to see other Alien/human couples. Her heart beats hard in her chest as she realizes the words that formed so very clear in her mind. Her vision blurs with the weight of the many thoughts she almost made real. She sinks in her seat as the lights dim, thinking herself discreet when she wipes her eyes. 

 

* * *

They leave the theater after the larger mass of people have already left, lingering around the city block where it’s found. They walk side by side down the street, they’ve already passed Maggie’s car by a lot. Eventually they walk through a park, heading toward the swings, words replaced momentarily with little gestures to indicate a suggestion or an idea.  

Kara sits on a swing, letting herself sway a little with her legs folded beneath her. 

Maggie stand behind her, hands settled on top of her shoulders. “Want a little push there, Kara?”

She shakes her head in response, instead tapping the swing next to her. “I was hoping we could talk a bit. Maybe get an answer to the question I asked you the other night.” 

“I was thinking of keeping that as my closing statement tonight.” Maggie takes the suggested swing, she makes it sway from left to right slightly. “But if you want the answer now.” she clears her throat. “What I want out of this thing is to keep following your pace. It’s been difficult to adapt, but also ...good.” she seems to hesitate to call it that. 

“What do you mean?” Kara asks.

“I haven’t really let myself take things slow in a long time. I like that I suddenly start thinking about you when the day gets slow. I like that I’m so happy that I could use my day off this just to end up sitting on a normal swing beside you.” Maggie explains, a cheeky smile adorning her lips. “And it’s been difficult to not think further than that.” 

Kara’s reddened cheeks gives away that she understands the underlying sentiment behind Maggie’s words and she can’t stop herself from smiling nonetheless. “You don’t have to dance around that, I won’t run away because you talk about sex. My sister probably exaggerated it a bit.” 

Maggie snort laughs and looks away for a moment, at least pretending to be embarrassed. “I’m a very physical person when it comes to showing affection, Kara. I know that it’s not on the table tonight, or not the next time or the time after that. But sex is something I’d need in a relationship.” 

“I don’t think I’m asexual. I might be demi, though but…” Kara stops herself short from rambling. “The point is, that won’t be a problem.” She reaches out and pokes at her arm. “What might be a problem is how you kept looking at the time during the movie. You didn’t like a disney movie.”

“I’m more of an action or horror flick kind of girl.” Maggie admits and bats the poking finger away. 

“Well, we might find something in the horror section then. And I’ve grown up with Alex so, compromising on movies won’t be an issue, I’m used to it.” Kara says with a smile. 

“What about the holidays?” Maggie asks, curious. 

“With what you told me, I understand why you don’t like some of them.” Kara stands up from the swing, stretching out her arms. “In my defense, the winter holidays are how I managed to keep myself connected to my adopted family, so that’s kind of why I find it important.” She stops in front of Maggie. “And I know my sister mentioned birthdays too. I like to celebrate people I care about and that seems like a perfect occasion.” 

“March 29th. 1987” Maggie responds with a soft smile. “You’re welcome.” she winks

Kara smiles at the quick response. She notes the date in her phone and stashes it back into her purse. “For the tide, the sun, the sky!” Kara immediately starts singing, standing up from the swing and even takes a few light dance steps. 

“I don’t remember the words!” Maggie exclaims with an embarrassed smile. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, you’re welcome!” Kara sings.

“You have a beautiful singing voice. I’ll see if I can get you to come to my workplace Karaoke night.” Maggie offers. 

Kara stops singing and stare at Maggie. “I’m the one who put the Kara in Karaoke.” 

Maggie laughs. “I suck at singing, but it’s fun to do in the shower.” 

“But there’s no audience there!” Kara says, grabbing onto Maggie’s arm and starts to walk back to the car with her.

“Oh but sometimes there are.” Maggie smiles.

“Yeah I walked right into that one.” Kara laughs and rests her forehead against Maggie’s shoulder.

“Speaking of which, let’s get you home.” Maggie bumps shoulder with Kara. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For story pacing reasons, I had to put this movie night between them before anything else. Next chapter is going to be: The reveal to Lena & furthering Agentcorp/The Plot.


	12. Stuck with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara goes to see Lena and to ensure that her sister's relationship with the Luthor doesn't suffer from her secret, reveals that she is Supergirl. After exchanging a few words over the sudden truth, a mysterious group mounts an assault against L-Corp and gives Supergirl a run for her money. After the dust settles, Lena and Alex find themselves looking for Kara...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

A knock on her office’s doors and Lena’s attention is torn from her work, she realizes it’s already dark outside. She presses on the intercom button, clearing her throat. “Who is it?” Simply asking the question draws a cold shiver down her spine and she opens a drawer with a small, custom designed firearm in it. 

 

The intercom flares to life and Kara’s voice comes through. “Your sister in law.” the tone is teasing and light, followed by the rattling of a brown paper bag. “I really need to speak with you.”  

 

Lena closes the drawer and presses the button to unlock her door and smiles at the woman that comes into her office. “I’d protest on legal technicalities but that probably wouldn’t get me very far.” she stands behind her desk. “What can I do for you Kara?” 

 

“Do you eat donuts?” Kara holds up the bag, letting it get snatched from her grasp by the CEO, who opens it on top of the pile of paper laying on her desk. 

 

“Well, I’m only human.” She opens the bag and pluck one of the pastry from it, before lounging back into her chair, abandoning the concept of finishing the work tonight. “I’m guessing this is some form of shovel talk?”

 

“Not quite. I don’t think that would be the way to go about it.” Kara takes one of the remaining donuts for herself. “It has something to do with Cadmus, your mother and… Jeremiah.” 

 

Lena’s eyebrow twitch a little and she swallows a bit of donut, barely avoiding choking on it. “Oh, okay. I totally should’ve seen this coming and not made light of the situation, I apologize.” her green eyes softening almost to the point of tears. 

 

Kara waves it off lightly with a hand. “Did Alex ever tell you about how I came into the Danvers family? That I was adopted?” 

 

Somehow, the softness deepens and Lena reaches across the desk, setting her hand on Kara’s for just a moment, for comfort. “She didn’t.  At the risk of over-sharing, we haven’t spent most of our time together talking.” 

 

Kara lets out a long-suffering sigh, stuffing her face with another donut before speaking up again. “You two are impossible and you should feel bad.” the statement is made with no amount of seriousness behind it. “Anyway. With your mother in Cadmus, with my adoptive father in Cadmus and their approach to the alien population in general…”

 

Lena’s smile fades and some of the softness dissipates, though she still eats pieces of her donut. “You’re worried I might have some secret connection too.” her voice can barely carry the words. 

 

“No.” Kara states firmly. “I feel like it’s a bad idea for you to wade into that situation without knowing the whole story.” she leans back into her own seat, mirroring Lena’s gesture. “I’m afraid your mother and my adopted father might try to manipulate or hurt you and Alex.” 

 

“That would certainly be within her modus operandi. Alex did mention the general ideals behind Cadmus and their known methods.” Lena rests her chin in her hand, observing Kara with a keen interest. 

 

Kara finds herself, not for the first time in recent times, completely word-less in the face of a concept she desires to express with precision. She holds up a finger as if to indicate she needs a moment. 

 

“Are you okay Kara? You seem a little out of sorts, all of a sudden?” Lena straightens up in her chair and leans forward. 

 

“There’s been a few things lately that I can’t quite put words to.” Kara meets Lena’s concerned gaze and finds some inspiration. “Jeremiah was forced to joined the D.E.O. when I made a mistake after I had been in the family for only a few months.” she scratches the back of her neck. “He disappeared during a mission and we realized he was alive just a few months ago.” 

 

“What kind of mistake would warrant that kind of thing?” Lena almost recoils from the jarring statement. 

 

Another moment of silent passes and Kara struggles, clearing her throat a few too many times. “I went outside flying with Alex.” she removes her glasses and sets them on top of the desk and undoes her ponytail. “We were spotted by the D.E.O.” she clears her throat again. “I’m Supergirl and the Danvers adopted me when I came to earth.” 

 

Lena stares at Kara as she processes the reveal, her eyes only widen further. She tries to form a few words, but she too finds herself speechless. 

 

“I’m telling you because I trust you, because I don’t want your mother or Jeremiah to use that to break either you or Alex’s hearts.” Kara shrugs and she makes her eyes shine, as if to provide proof. ”Because then that would be my fault and I couldn’t bear that.” 

 

“Would you like a drink? Because I feel like I might need one.” Lena offers, clearing her throat. 

 

“Just water, I couldn’t get drunk from any of what you have.” Kara informs. 

 

Lena stands and goes to the minibar in her office, pouring herself two fingers of scotch and giving Kara a bottle of bubbly water. Instead of returning to her desk, she sits down hard on her couch. “So, why did you stick around me as both of your personas?” 

 

“Well, wouldn’t be much of a secret if I went around revealing it to anyone I meet.” Kara picks up her glasses and puts them in the pocket of her button up. “Plus I felt like we had connective fibers, what with us trying to get out of someone else’s shadow. Also, giving aliens employment opportunities was pretty good. And also, you’re kind of dating my sister?”

 

Lena chuckles. “And to think I was worried when things began exploding at the the rebranding ceremony.” She downs her drink in one go.

 

“Well, that worry might have been what gave you a shot with Alex.” Kara smiles.

 

Both of them grow quiet and calm, only the quiet hush of their breathing between them. It’s a comfortable silence in which each dive into thoughts. Lena is the first one to break it, unable to contain the burning questions in her mind. 

 

“Is Kara even your real name?” Lena looks up from the couch. “What should I call you?” 

 

“Hi, I’m Kara Zor-El. I took my adopted family’s last name for legal purposes.” Kara leaves the chair in front of Lena’s desk to join her on the couch, offering a handshake to Lena. “So you can call me Kara when I’m out of the suit and Supergirl when I’m in.” 

 

Lena shakes the hand, it’s humorously awkward. “I never quite thought I’d end up having things in common with a Super. Strange how life gets.” 

 

“It’s always full of hope and surprises.” Kara plucks another donut from her bag and offers one to Lena. 

 

“What’s a good idea for a gift to Alex?” Lena asks, a little out of the blue. 

 

Kara smiles and reaches to pat Lena’s hand. “Both of you are really busy people. I think what you need to impress her, is to find time for her, no matter how short it is.”  She squeezes the hand and retrieve hers. “But if you’re really bent on dropping money, she’s a big fan of scotch.”

 

Lena chuckles. A touch of mischief in her replies. “I’ve noticed that. She’s also pretty fond of her sister. Made it clear you wouldn’t go away no matter how annoying you’d get.”

 

“See, you’re not only befriending a Super, you’re stuck with one.” Kara presents her donut, as if toasting her. 

 

“To being stuck with you.”  Lena knocks her own donut against Kara’s.

 

* * *

The alarm sounds just as Kara is heading for the door, One of the screens mounted on the back wall of Lena’s office turns out, displaying a security feed. A group of armed men just broke down the front door and are marching through the lobby, heading toward the elevators and staircases. They move in short bursts, clearing each area with military precision.

Lena groans in frustration, her body tensing as she studies the security feed. She grabs her phone and quickly activates her security system, sending an alert to the NCPD confirming the threat. She turns around just in time to see Kara change into Supergirl. “They have custom-made weaponry, be careful with them Supergirl.” 

 

The Kryptonian nods. “I’m pretty sure I can handle them. Make sure to warn my sister too, she’ll get a team sent here too.” she approaches the balcony door and opens it. “You’re an affiliated contractor as far as I know, it’s perfectly reasonable for her to send help.” With that said, Kara jumps off of the balcony and flies down towards the lobby, the sounds of Lena’s call to Alex fading fast with the distance and wind rushing in her ear and the distant sound of police sirens growing closer.

 

Two armed men were left behind to guard the door, Supergirl lands on one, knocking him out cold. As she rise back to her feet, she picks up the second guard and throws him down the flight of stairs leading to this door. She keeps him down by covering his leg with a thick layer of ice, using her freeze breath.

 

She walks into the lobby and immediately weathers a hail of bullets, all of them bouncing off of her harmlessly. Supergirl reaches a group of three men, hiding behind a reception desk. She takes one of their assault rifles and breaks it in half on her knee. She throws the first half to the one trying to run, the other half is used to knock down the third man. 

 

Supergirl grabs the assailant she disarmed and throws him in another small squad, scattering them about, none of them get back up. The sound of the elevator rings and she quickly realizes that a small group managed to overcome security on the elevators and they’re about to escape into it. She super speeds right to the elevator and uses her heat-vision to weld the door shut, trapping them inside. 

 

She does a quick mental countdown of how many armed men she fought and comes up a few short. She uses her X-ray vision to scout the area carefully, noticing a few of those she knocked down running back outside, only to be caught by the NCPD and S.W.A.T.  She notices Lena coming down, using her private elevator, she also notices a humanoid form with abnormally hidden areas on their person, lurking within one of the security offices in the lobby. . 

 

Lena slowly steps out of the elevator, carefully approaching Supergirl. “I figured I’d better be down here, before the cops assume you’re with them.” Lena seems a little surprised at the relatively low amount of property damage caused by the fighting. She stops, however, when Supergirl raises her hand toward her.

 

Lena’s enough of a distraction for her to miss the little metallic clink the security office door does when it opens. She hears the steps seconds too late to prevent it: The figure emerging from the security offices fires at her.  

 

It’s a fist-sized missile coming her way, she quickly shoves Lena out of the way, sending her sliding across the floor, away from the explosion! Supergirl gets caught right in the center mass, the impact is powerful enough to knock her back a few feet. Her suit is damaged, torn in small places and her breathing is laborious, like she got punched in the gut. She barely gets to her feet before another missile flies through the smoke and against her. This time she blocks with her arms and the suits is torn from her elbow down.  

 

Supergirl immediately blows a burst of freezing breath across the lobby to clear it from the smoke and makes the ground a little harder to navigate. Once the smoke clears, she sees the hostile silhouette shouldering a missile launcher, large enough to warrant caution. Another shot comes her way. This time she uses her heat-vision to destroy it before it reaches her. She dives forward, through the fire, intent on not letting the assailant fire another time.

 

She only realizes who’s fighting her when she’s floating a mere few feet from him! Her strength drains from her body and she’s too stunned to even try to block the retort. Jeremiah sweeps the overly large missile launcher off of his shoulder and arcs it toward her, like it’s a large hammer. The weapon breaks and bends against her, but she’s knocked out of the air and lands hard, through a stonewrought sculpture of the new L-Corp logo, shattering it. 

 

Supergirl watches him discard the broken weapon to the side, she holds her stomach, her ribcage rattled solidly by the improvised weapon. He walks toward her with fury written in his eyes. She feels every bit of the transition from the momentary euphoria of seeing him alive, to the soul crushing dread of having angered a parent, to the distant, guilt-ridden sting of betrayal. “It’s really you! You’re alive!” her voice trembles. 

 

“No thanks to you!” He runs the last few steps and kicks her, sending her rolling back toward the middle of the lobby, she slides a short distance afterward too. He draws a strange syringe gun with a green gleaming liquid in it. He takes aim and fires it. 

 

He hits her in the thigh, she screams in pain, loudly. She pulls the syringe out before it’s completely empty and she stumbles back onto her feet. She throws it back at him, missing by about a full three feet. “WHY!?” 

 

The screams are enough to prompt the police forces outside to come in, even without their promised federal back up. Maggie comes into the lobby alongside the S.W.A.T. team, all of them stunned by the sight of Supergirl with several green veins popping all over her face, arms and legs. “FREEZE!” 

  
  
  


Jeremiah remains quiet, ducking away from the thrown Syringe, he loads an empty one into the gun and fires again, hitting her leg again, as the Kryptonite makes it hard for Supergirl to dodge away from his shot. He discards the gun almost immediately and charges at Kara, ignoring the police’s order completely. 

 

The S.W.A.T. team opens fire, Supergirl almost screams in panic trying to stop them, but it’s cut short by the force of impact from his charge and the conflicting relief that he seems to be entirely bulletproof.

 

He puts a hand around her throat and squeezes, fortunately he’s not strong enough to truly choke her out but she can’t quite bring herself to shake him off of her. He grabs at the Syringe in her leg and draws blood, pulling it out in the process. “None of that would’ve happened without you.” he whispers with spite. 

 

At the request of Maggie, one of the S.W.A.T. team member throws something and a flashbang grenade lands right next to them, forcing him to cover his ears and closes his eyes, when he sees it touch down.

 

Supergirl uses the split second distraction to shove him off of her and she rolls away, wrapping herself in her cape, bracing herself against the oncoming blast of light and sound. Even through that, she loses her sight for a few moments and her ears stop functioning. She tries to stand up, but falls back down, unable to find her footing.

 

She fires her heat-vision in his direction, but a surge of fear and guilt makes her avert the blast to the floor instead. She punches the ground in frustration after failing to stand up again. 

 

Maggie and a few member of the S.W.A.T. team jump in front of Jeremiah in an attempt to hold him back, only to be thrown back when he tackles two of them down. 

 

Jeremiah grabs one of their guns and fires at the remaining team members, he hits a few of them, though they have kevlar vests, but hits Maggie square in the shoulder. 

 

Supergirl lets out a shriek of fury and fires her heat vision at him, this time she doesn’t avert it. 

 

Jeremiah raises his left arm and blocks the beams with his hand, the fake epidermis burns away to reveal an enhanced cybernetic arm. The arm grows a little red from the heat and sparks of electricity fly around when the heat-beams ends. He turns around and start running deeper into the building. 

 

Supergirl stumbles as fast as she can toward her fallen friend, she screams her name, barely able to hear the sound of her own voice. “MAGGIE!” 

 

“The fuck was that?” Maggie asks, pinching the bullet between her fingers, showing that it’s actually out of the wound.

 

A bunch of men and women come into the L-Corp lobby, Vasquez runs to their side, bringing a suitcase with her. “Hey, Steel Eagle Two and Four.” she grins a little bit. “Supergirl, can you give us a read on the building, we’re walking in blind. Security’s been shut off.” 

 

“Make sure she’s okay!” She pats Vasquez on the back and looks to Maggie. “Thanks, I owe you.” then moves outside to examine the building with her X-rays, feeding the results to the D.E.O. and NCPD.  

 

Once Supergirl leaves the building, Maggie looks to Vasquez. “I’m probably going to get in trouble for getting shot.” 

 

“With who? Your girlfriend?” Vasquez disinfects the wound and apply some bandages to the shoulder. “I’m taking you back to our headquarters. Resident doctors will patch you up.” 

 

“I don’t have a girlfriend, but with Kara yes.” Maggie states a little dryly. “My insurance too probably.”

 

“Won’t have much to cover, it’s part of the perks of working there. Free medical treatment, also pretty discreet. Since you’re an asset, you’re cleared to go there.” Vasquez teases. 

 

Maggie laughs a bit through the pain. 

 

* * *

 

It’s Alex who ends up patching Maggie’s shoulders, of all people. It’s a little awkward since she has to be shirtless for most of the proceedings. “I’d expect Kara to drop by your place or your work by tomorrow with food and probably an earful about being careful.” 

 

“Yeah I’m pretty sure something like that’s going to happen.” She winces a little bit, as the various disinfecting agent on her wound seems to make it itch. “I’d check up on Supergirl if I were you. She was really, really off.” 

 

“What do you mean?” Alex pulls off the surgical gloves, discards a few bloodied tools and washes her hand with a bottle of disinfectant, trying to appear partially disinterested. 

 

“I’ve watched the news and I’ve been around this town for a while, I know what it looks like when she fights. It feels like this was someone she didn’t want to fight.” Maggie assesses.

 

“I’ll definitely write this in my report of the situation.” Alex nods and smiles. “You’re cleared to go, you can stay around for a bit, or you can call a cab back home and you don’t even owe anything! Maybe a drink next time we’re out in the same space.” 

 

“Alright, sounds fair Danvers.” Maggie struggles to put on her leather jacket, which Alex gently helps her with. “Fuck me, this hurts.” 

 

“Take a few tylenol, that might help. If it gets too bad, call me, I might have something to help with it.” Alex steps out of the medbay with Maggie and helpfully shows her the way out. “You can’t really miss the exit.”

 

Maggie smiles and pats Alex on the shoulder, with her good arm, before heading out in that direction. The way outside isn’t hard to find, but it seems she’s not the only one leaving the building, she finds herself exiting the building at the same time as Lena Luthor, of all people. “You didn’t get shot or anything?” 

 

Lena seems a little out of it and startles when Maggie asks her the question. “Oh, no, but I had to write a report and help them navigate the security footage.” the C.E.O. stops walking once she’s outside of the building, quickly checking her phone. “Thank you, by the way for your service tonight.” 

 

Maggie blinks a little bit and she feels just a touch of warm dancing over her cheek. “It would’ve looked pretty bad on my resume to let Supergirl get her ass kicked.” she responds with a nervous laugh. 

 

“Oh, but it would've happened in my company’s building, the public would absolutely have blamed me.” Lena laughs too. “Don’t let me hold you back from going to rest, I’m waiting for my ride home to come out of work.” Lena points to the door just as Alex and Vasquez make their way out. 

 

Maggie’s eyes widen hard when Alex grabs Lena’s arm and kiss her cheek in greeting. “Holy shit.” 

 

“What?” Alex seems a little perplexed, Lena on the other hand seems amused. 

 

“I really didn’t expect Miss Luthor’s ride to be Agent Danvers is all.” Maggie teases them, trying to shove Alex playfully, but strains her bad arm a little doing it. 

 

Lena laughs a little loudly. “Oh she’s my ride alright. Do you need help going home?” 

 

Alex blushes and rests her chin on Lena’s shoulder. “Yeah, we can help.” 

 

Maggie’s phone rings and she spend a few moments struggling to get to her phone. It’s a quick conversation, mostly one sided with Maggie occasionally responding uninterested. “I’ll get to it tomorrow, doctor’s order are to rest. Leave it on my desk.” She shuts the phone off before the other person can respond. “I’ll grab a cab home, but thanks for offering. I’ll see you girls again later.” 

 

Lena and Alex leave the D.E.O. once Maggie leaves in a cab. 

 

* * *

 

Lena stares at Alex throughout the drive toward her apartment, it’s halfway between amusement and judgement too. “So, Supergirl is your sister.” she says, just ask Alex takes a turn on a major avenue. “That was quite… a revelation.” 

 

Alex takes a deep breath, her hands wrap tighter around the steering wheel and she forces herself to focus on the road. “Does this change something between us?” she almost exhales the question. 

 

“Maybe, but I don’t think you should be worried. I appreciate the honesty. Plus, to put it in yours and her words. I’m stuck with her.” Lena reaches to squeeze Alex’s leg. 

 

“So, just so you know, the person who had the FIM-92 Missile launcher was our father. Jeremiah.” Alex steers the car to park it on a street corner, still a bit away from her own apartment. 

 

“I didn’t see him, after Kara push me out of the way I went and hid in the staircase where Miss Vasquez found me.” Lena explains. “You’re worried about Kara?” 

 

Alex nods. “I just…I kept telling myself she’d call if she needed me around but... “ She looks at Lena, tears stinging the corner of her eyes. “I know she won’t and I just feel bad going home right now.” 

 

“Let’s go see your sister then? If you don’t mind me tagging along.” Lena offers. 

 

“You wouldn’t mind?” Alex asks, hopeful.

 

“Of course not, you care for your sister! I don’t care what planet she’s from! Let’s go.” Lena taps Alex on the thigh and kisses her cheek.

 

Alex turns the car around and drives to her sister’s apartment, several times during the trip, she bites her tongue to stop herself from mentioning how Maggie and her sister are basically set to be dating. 

 

Lena on the other end seems to enjoy the driving around and constantly leans in to Alex, kissing her cheek when they’re waiting for stoplights to change colors. 

 

When they finally make it to Kara’s apartment, Alex unlocks the door with her actual keys. “Kara?” 

 

There’s no answer. Lena peeks around the apartment casually, into the bedroom too, finding no one. She steps back into the kitchen to find Alex toying with a phone. 

 

“Kara’s phone, it’s set to DND.” She set it back down on the kitchen island. “There’s no plan anywhere in her text messages. “Any idea where she could’ve gone?”  

 

“Maybe with the detective she mentioned last time I was here?” Lena suggests.

 

“I don’t think so, but it doesn’t hurt to check.” Alex sends a few text from her own phone and gets a reply fairly quickly. “Nope, she’s not with Winn and James either…” Alex takes a deep breath. “Damn it, where is she!” 

 

Lena moves closer to Alex and pulls her into her arms. “I don’t know for sure, but we’ll find her.” she retrieves her own phone from her purse, ready to investigate from her side too as she holds Alex close to her.

  
  



	13. Drowning our sorrows (in Alien Rum)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara takes a page from her sister and drinks her sorrows away after getting attacked by Jeremiah, discovering a small, shining piece of herself in the process. Alex and Lena find her and bring her back home and Maggie discovers who really shot her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Gwatson2304](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwatson2304/pseuds/Gwatson2304) for the Beta-Reading.

Kara knock on the door, the rattling of metal against her knuckles strangely satisfying, a small distraction from the screaming in her mind. The slit opens and a wide-eyed doorman looks through it. 

 

“Do you have a battering ram?! Jeez. Password.” He whispers harshly. 

 

“Dollywood, Sorry.” Kara recoils from the door, cursing her strength  under her breath. She steps in when the door opens. 

 

“It’s okay, you just startled me.” He says, towering over her, closing the door right after.  He takes his seat again, reading a local newspaper.

 

Kara walks into the main room, not a lot of people are there tonight. A few of the regulars looks her way, eyes narrowed. She goes to the bar, sitting on the stool there, waiting for M’gann to join her.

 

“Hey there, what can I get you? Cream Soda or something a little harder?” She smiles warmly, reaching over the counter to welcome Kara with a gentle squeeze of her arm.

 

“Aldebaran Rum, just leave the bottle.” She whispers, sliding her card across the counter for payment, it’s barely audible, even with the soft music and low crowd volume. 

 

M’gann hears it and shakes her head. “I can’t serve you something that’ll kill you, Kara. J’onn and  Maggie would never forgive me.” 

 

She smiles a little, not a small exploit with the dark clouds roaming in her mind. A small ray of sunlight piercing through them for a brief moment. Again, she finds herself without words to express a growing, intense feeling in her gut. 

 

“So, Cream Soda?” M’gann insists, still holding on to Kara’s arm.

 

Kara shakes her head and leans over the counter to whisper. “I  _ know _ I’ll be fine with the rum, nothing human is going to work.”

 

M’gann eyes gleam with a red hue for a short moment, as she reaches out with her mind, trying to read what thoughts dance about Kara’s head. It fails, the mind too different, too un-usual to connect. She takes a step back, as if shoved by the realization. “Are you…?” the question doesn’t fully materialize. 

 

Kara shrugs. “I don’t want to go into details. I just want to drink.” 

 

M’gann smiles, it’s strangely the most heartwarming smile Kara’s gotten lately. “Alright. I’ll get your rum.” she runs Kara’s card, returning it along with the bottle. “Secret’s safe with me.”  M’gann whispers.

 

Kara drinks, she pours from the bottle and onto her glass and refills it until she’s not able to pour without spilling. Her super-hearing muddled, she barely realizes that she’s not humming along the right song. Brian heads out, squeezing her shoulder on the way out, not a word between them. 

 

Darla stops her trying to pour another glass, leaving behind a glass of water with ice cubes filling it to the brim. “I’ll give it back when you come back alone next time.” she whispers. 

 

The ice-cold water becomes an oasis of focus, an anchor that stops her mind from drifting deeper into the void. Blissfully, she remains drunk enough that her mind is too mired in itself to conjure any real thoughts about the events of the day.  

 

Her mind flashes back to the harsh bite of fire on her fingertips from the rockets and she dips her fingers in the glass, soothing the memory with the overwhelming physical sensation. 

 

A shadow looms over to her side and her attention is drawn to it. Alex stands there, hands on hips with a confused look. “Hey? You forgot your phone home.” she dangles said phone in front of Kara.  

 

“Hey! You look like my sister.” Kara makes the statement, amusing herself in the moment. 

 

“Are you slurring your words?” The Alex-like blur asks, incredulous at the sight before her.

 

“Am I?” Kara takes a moment to recite the syllables. “Cho-cooo-latt.”  

 

“Wow, Kara Danvers’ drunk. That’s a first.” She slides into the other side of the booth, sliding her sister’ phone across the table.

 

“It’s just waaater.” she elongates the word, pushing the glass toward her sister, like she’s trading for her phone, droplets of water everywhere on the table. “Touch it, it’s super cold!”  

 

Alex doesn’t touch the glass, instead grabs her sister’s hand. “Kara.” 

 

The Kryptonian goes quiet and she lowers her whole body, resting her chin on the table. “Oh don’t be like that, you drink your bad days away all the time.”  

 

“I know, but you don’t.” Alex speaks, softening her voice. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” 

 

Kara is quiet for a moment, her head sways from right to left. “How’s Maggie?” 

 

“I think you should be asking her, I can’t be giving you out medical information like that.” Alex offers with a little bit of a smirk. 

 

Kara pulls her hand away from her sister and starts typing at her phone, though she set it back down rapidly. “Ugh, too hard to type.” 

 

“So, I have my girlfriend waiting in a Limo not far from here, do you want a ride home from her?” Alex asks. 

 

Kara nods to Alex’s offer, but hands over her phone to her. “Ask Maggie for me.” 

 

Alex rolls her eyes, she starts typing on her sister’s phone.

>  
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ Kara wants 2 know if ur doing okay - alex  _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ I’m trying to sleep, not working too well with the shoulder. _
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ she’s very drunk, so i’m typing in her stead.  _
> 
> **_Maggie_ ** _ : :) what’s she drinking? _
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ half a bottle of rum is gone.  _
> 
> **_Maggie:_ ** _ tell her i’ll call her tomorrow, make her drink water.  _
> 
> **_Kara:_ ** _ I will. Now go rest. _
> 
> **_Maggie_ ** _ : night.  _

 

* * *

 

Kara is sprawled messily over the seat opposite to Alex and Lena, vocalizing silly sounds as the limousine bumps in the road, giggling to herself as she curls up in a semi sleeping state. Lena and Alex use a blanket stashed in a small compartment to cover her up. Soon, the girl of steel is snoring. 

 

Lena rests her head on Alex’s shoulder. “How did she get drunk? She told me she couldn’t get drunk off of my own stock.” 

 

“The bar she was at? They serve aliens, they have food and drinks from other worlds. Those, apparently, can affect her.” Alex explains, turning her head and burying her face right into Lena’s hair, kissing her scalp. 

 

“It’s hard to wrap my head around something like that, do you think I could visit eventually?” Lena asks. 

 

Alex shrugs. “I don’t know for sure, they might not be very understanding of your last name.” she kisses her cheek. “Or they might not mind, ask Kara or Maggie when you get the chance.”  Alex freezes for a moment, as if having a dreadful lightbulb moment. 

 

“What’s the matter? You look terrified.” Lena asks, her face twisting in a curious expression. 

 

Alex reaches for her sister and shove her a little bit. “Kara? Kara!” 

 

“What?” Kara sleepily mumbles, grabbing her sister’s hand and pushing it a little further away. 

 

“You told someone at the bar you were supergirl!” Alex accuses. 

 

Kara frowns and her expression sours considerably. “No, I didn’t!”  

 

“Kara, you drank alien rum! They know!” Alex insists

 

“I didn’t tell them I was Supergirl!” she throws the blanket at her sister. She tries to sit up, but loses balance, falling on the bench again.

 

Alex takes the blanket from the floor and throws it back at Kara. “Then how did they give you something that work on you?” 

 

“I told M’gann the rum would be safe for me. She got the message. Also Darla stopped me from finishing the bottle.” Kara puts the blanket under her head, using it as a makeshift pillow. “They just know I’m an alien.” 

 

Lena, meanwhile is just watching their interaction, a longing smile on her lips as she observes Alex doting on Kara. When the minor spat seems to de-escalate, she grabs onto Alex’s arm and kisses her cheek. 

 

“I suppose they could think you’re just a random alien hiding your antennas.” Alex teases, leaning into Lena a bit. 

 

“Don’t kiss too loud, I wanna sleep.” Kara hides her face in her blanket. 

 

Lena stifles a laugh both at Kara’s request and Alex’s mischievous smile. 

 

* * *

 

She dreams that night, it’s messy and unfocused. It’s multiple little flashes of little moments. A dark pit of unbearable silence and darkness with echoes of Alex’s angry shouts. Replaced with Eliza’s muffled crying, a relic of when she’d hide in her room to cry about her husband. The terror grows older, ancient, a flash to the moment she left Krypton, begging for more time with her mother. “What would have happened if you didn’t linger?” 

 

Kara tries to wake up, stirring in her sleep, but the nightmare traps her in it. A flash of heat at her fingertips. She hears a gunshot, she turns around and she sees Maggie fall, lifeless on the cold floor.  A raging whisper rise from the darkness. “None of that would’ve happened without you.”

 

She drags herself out of bed, when finally the nightmare’s done with her. Stumbling through her apartment, still half drunk, sleep dripping from every ounce of her consciousness. She turns the TV on. She’s not really watching, only staring at the moving imagery and listening vaguely to the sounds it makes, actively trying not to make sense of it.  

 

The sun rises on National City and the day starts, it would’ve moved on without her if it wasn’t for the knock on her door.  Kara startles at the sudden noise, she slips down the couch and rushes to the door, opening it. 

 

Maggie’s there, carrying a small brown bag with Joy’s Shop donuts in it. The logo printed on the bag gives it away: A donut with a big smiley face and sprinkles for hair. Her right arm is in a sling, but holding the bag, her left one is holding a tray with coffees. “Sorry for not calling, I thought maybe donuts might make up for it?” 

 

Kara pulls the door open and relieves her guest from the coffee and donuts, setting them on the kitchen counter rapidly. “I don’t mind you showing up without calling.” quickly she returns to Maggie’s side, to help her remove the leather jacket. 

 

The help’s needed, removing the jacket proves to be more strain on her shoulder than she’d like. “Thank you.” she watches Kara, a thin smile on her lips, hangs her jacket and then pulls a chair out for her at the kitchen island. Maggie steps closer, stopping her from going further in the apartment, to the bedroom. “Kara?” 

 

There’s no verbal answer, but she turns around, a question written in her expression, her body angled with impatience, fear. Her eyes are shining with tears. 

 

“I know who shot at me.” Maggie keeps her voice soft and tender. “I couldn’t sleep, so I worked a bit over night. I found out who he was.” There’s a bit of silence and the pain and terror that blooms in Kara’s eyes is too much to bear for even one more moment of hung silence. “It’s my first time getting shot by the father of a girl I’m flirting with. And I wasn’t even improper!” 

 

Kara’s giggles and the giggling breaks out in a loud laugh which has her bent forward a bit, but it’s broken up by a sob.  Kara sits on the floor and hides her face behind her hands. 

 

Maggie sits on Kara’s lap and wraps her good arm around her neck, holding the woman against her. “Oof, squeeze a little softer.” 

 

“No.” Kara mumbles against her shoulder, though in spite of her answer, she does release the hold a little.

 

Kara’s phone buzzes with a notification nearby and Maggie retrieves it for her, just a within her arm’s reach, on the kitchen counter. “Just in case it’s important.” 

 

Kara opens the phone, it’s a text from James, linking to a tabloid article from the morning.

 

> **_James_ ** _ : Can you verify this is bs? _

 

The link leads to an article with a picture of Lena Luthor walking in town with many, many hickeys on her neck. _Local Luthor Heiress has a mysterious new suitor All details inside!_

 

“Ugh, Alex damnit.” she reads the article in quick overview and she starts laughing too. “Oh my god, they think it’s Supergirl!” 

 

Maggie slides off of Kara’s lap and lies on her back, on the floor, laughing out loud.  


 

The laughter dies down a few moment later and they just lie there on the floor, their hands twining together. Silence covers the apartment like a soothing blanket for a blissful moment of peace. 

  
  



End file.
